Hidden Truth
by Hommeles
Summary: Paine finds out she's pregnant and is afraid to tell Baralai. Pairings: mainly PB, TY GR on the side and a little NL . !COMPLETE!
1. Keep it quiet

**A/N:** _I got this idea for a story a couple of days ago and started writing. This time it's someone else in the lead, so I hope I can put myself in that persons perspective. Please tell me what you think? O! And more chapters will come!_**

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**-Hidden truth-**

**---Keep it quiet---**

Of all the things I would have expected to happen, never ever did this pop into my mind. I've always thought Yuna would be the first. Or perhaps Rikku? But not me, at least not in the next 10 years. And I thought that I was a responsible person, but now I'm not so sure. Plus, how are my friends going to react! No wait! Better yet, the father! I am way to young for this. I know I'll never make a good mother, not with my past. Oh Yevon, I totally messed up. I…me, I messed up. Can you believe it. She chuckled and shook her head.

A knock on the bathroom door made her look up. _Who could it be? Argh, what kind of question is that, of course you know who it is, he's the only one besides you, who lives here!_ Paine let out a frustrating growl.

When she heard another knock and Baralai's worried voice, she started to panic. 'Paine? Is everything alright? You've been in there for…20 minutes. I don't want to rush you, but we're going to be late.'

Oh no, what now…just say that you're fine and you'll be out in a minute. O! And hide the test. Paine grabbed the small box and put the test in it. 'I'm fine. I'm almost done.' She said, voice as normal as possible. Or so she hoped.

She put the box as far down in the disposer as she could get it. Then she walked towards the toilet and pushed the button to flush. Making it seem like she'd just been on the toilet. When she opened the door, she revealed Baralai. He was leaning with his back against the wall, His hands in his pockets. He wore his praetor outfit.

When he heard the door open, his head shot up and looked at Paine a little concerned. 'Are you alright?'

Paine nodded slowly and walked passed him. 'I'm fine.' She spoke.

How am I going to tell him? What if he doesn't…No, Baralai would make a good father, that's not the problem but…I won't…being a good mother I mean. I'll…I'll tell him…later.

Baralai pushed himself of the wall and followed her. 'So, you're ready to go?'

Paine nodded once. She grabbed a black purse. It matched the outfit she was wearing. Some wide black pants, with buckles on the sides. A ruby coloured sweater, with a low cut back. The front reached her collarbone. Actually it was a very classy outfit for Paine. But it had to be since they were on their way to an important dinner of some sort. They were going to be accompanied by the Mevyn of the Youth leage, the Machine faction leader, the high summoner and a couple of praetors.

At least Yuna was going to be there. Maybe…maybe she should tell her…or maybe not. Paines thoughts were running through her head, making her get a headache. But she hid it, just like she always would.

They got to the restaurant in time. It was the chicest restaurant in Bevelle. With a view that used to be one of the most beautiful views in all of Spira, looking over the Macalania forest. Now, the forest was almost gone.

The waiter brought them to their table. Everyone was already there, except for Gippal. 'Late, as usual.' Baralai whispered in Paines ear before he turned towards the table to greet everyone.

Paine took a seat next to Yuna after saying her greetings as well.

'You look great Paine.' Yuna said as she noticed the class in Paines outfit. Sure was different then her usual warriors outfit. 'Thank you.' Paine said, with a faint smile. 'So, how have you been?'

After about an half an hour of casual talk, the Faction leader finally arrived. He sat down between Baralai and Nooj. 'Hey guys, sorry I'm late.' He grinned at the praetors, who remained silent. Baralai shook his head. Nooj sighed. 'You're always late.'

They all ordered what they wanted.

One of the praetors started talking. 'Now that Sin is gone, people have been using machina more and more. We fear that the people of Spira are falling into old habits again.' The other one nodded, agreeing with his colleague. 'Yes, precisely. We think that people shouldn't use to much machinery. Isn't that why Sin appeared in the first place? Because we used to much machina?' Gippal frowned, he certainly didn't agree with them. 'No, that's what you made of it.' The 2 praetors looked at each other. 'But, the Yevon ways tell us that Zanarkand was de…Gippal interrupted him before he could finish another word. 'Yevon was all one big lie. You've seen what they had underground! Let alone Vegnagun.' He glared at them from across the table. Baralai cleared his throat. 'People have chosen to use machina themselves. We cannot tell them what they can and can't use. They don't have anything to fear anymore.' The praetors nodded, but didn't look like they agreed with Baralai.

Before they could continue the discussion, 2 waiters came and filled the table with plates and but she never said a word during bowls.

'Maybe we should give the people of Spira some rules to live by. Like the use of machina, we could ask them not to use it to much. I know the people that follow the New Yevon ways would listen.' Nooj shook his head thoughtfully. 'It wouldn't make a difference. A lot of people have already excepted machinery into their lives. I don't think they'll give it up so soon. It does make ones live a lot easier.' Baralai agreed with Nooj, and so was Gippal. He is the Machine faction leader after all, not to mention an Al bhed. Of course he wasn't going to agree with those two, about reducing the use of machina.

Paine was awfully quiet the entire time. Not that she's a talkative type, but she never said a word during dinner. Yuna noticed this to her great concern. When the praetors left, the rest decided to go to the bar for a drink before they left.

Baralai ordered for Paine and himself. 'Can I have 2 white wine please, thank you.' He asked the bar tender but was immediately interrupted by Paine, even before the bartender could reach for a glass. 'No, I'll just have some water.' Gippal and Yuna both frowned. Baralai looked concerned. She had been acting a little strange ever since they got there.

'Are you alright?' He asked her as he put his arm around her waist. 'Yes, I'm fine, just a headache.' Paine reassured him, even if it was a lie. Baralai nodded, still a bit worried. He kissed her on the cheek before he went and sat next to Gippal and Nooj.

Paine sighed deeply and sat on one of the empty barstools. The bartender placed the glass of water in front of her.

How am I ever going to tell him.

Yuna took the stool next to her friend and looked at her with worried eyes. 'Paine?' She hesitated. Paine stared ahead of her. 'Yes?' Yuna cast her eyes down at her drink. 'Is something wrong, something I should know?' Paine wasn't sure how she should react on that question. She had expected it though, she didn't know how to answer it.

Should I tell her? Maybe it's best to share the burden, for once.

'Yuna…you are my friend, right?' Yuna looked confused. 'Of course!' Paine remained silent. 'What's wrong?' Yuna said, a bit pleading. Paine sighed and forced the words to come out of her mouth. 'I…I'm pregnant.

Yuna's jaw dropped as she stared at her friend. Well that sure was something she hadn't expect Paine to say. 'You…you're…' She stammered, she was just to shocked at the moment. Paine shook her head in annoyance. 'Yes, I'm pregnant. Do I have to spell it out for you?'

Yuna placed her elbows on the bar and rested her head on it. 'I just…I didn't expect you to say that…does…Baralai…wait! He is the father, right?' Yuna looked at her, nodding as if she already knew what she was going to say. 'Yes, he is.'

Yuna placed her head back in it's former position. 'When did you find out?'

'About 4 hours ago.'

'Did you tell him yet?'

'No'

'Are you going to?'

'….'

Yuna turned to her friend once more, both eyebrows raised. 'You're not going to tell him?' Paine sighed again, and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. The first time Yuna ever saw Paine helpless. 'I don't know, I just…' Again a sighed came from Paines side.

Yuna took a sip of her drink. 'Why'd you tell me first?' She asked.

Paine stared into space again. 'I don't know…'cause you happened to be around right now.'

'Hey.' Yuna shoved her and smiled kindly.

Paine smiled a bit too. She felt so relieved now that Yuna knew too. She sure hoped that she wouldn't tell Rikku though. Then all of Spira would know the news in less then an hour. Besides if she was going to tell Rikku, she want to tell it herself. But she was sure Yuna would understand that.

'I want to know, really, why'd you tell me first?'

Paine looked up from her thoughts. It took her a while to realize what Yuna just said. Yuna mistook her confused look for her to be struggling with words.

'I guess, because your someone I can rely on. You're my talk person.'

Yuna's eyes shined. 'Really?' She said happily, and with a brilliant smile.

'Really.'

Yuna smiled even brighter. She put one arm around Paines waist, and rested her head on her upper arm.

Paine still stared blankly ahead. 'You realize this constitates hugging.'

Yuna smiled faintly. 'Yeah, but I'm allowed. I'm your talk person.'

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**Read and Review please : )**

She chuckled and shook her head.Paine grabbed the small box and put the test in it. 'I'm fine. I'm almost done.' She said, voice as normal as possible. Or so she hoped.Paines thoughts were running through her head, making her get a headache. But she hid it, just like she always would. 


	2. Silence for a while

**A/N:** _Sorry if it took me a bit long. I was really busy with school, homework and intern. Anyway, this chapter is a bit shorter then the first. But I hope it's just as good._

_Thanks for everyone reviewing so far! _

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**Chapter 2**

**--Trying--**

It's been a week now. I still haven't told him. But that doesn't mean I've tried, cause I have! I just…every time I want to tell him…I close. The words don't seem to want to come out. And I tell myself: 'I'll tell him tomorrow.' Or 'I'll wait till tonight.'

Yuna's pretty mad at me about it. Well, for as far as Yuna can get mad. She's still the only one who knows. She's calling me almost every day to ask if he knows already. I've disappoint her every time she calls. Since I just can't bring myself in telling him. She's even threatened to tell him herself if I didn't sometime soon. Of course it was a false threat, she'd never do anything like that. I guess I know her too well for that.

I can't say why I'm so scared. I've never been so scared in my entire live. I just keep telling myself that I can't possibly raise a baby. I wont make a good mom, I just know it.

Paine shook her head furiously, trying to shake her thoughts away. She turned her attention from the ground she was staring to the window at her right. She grabbed a pillow that lay on the couch she was sitting on and placed it on her stomach. Then she crossed her arms over it and sighed. _I wont make a good mom. _She said to herself again.

Baralai tried to open the door to their apartment, leaning the bag of groceries on his knee supporting it with one hand, while his other was fiddling with the door keys. After a few seconds of struggling and small curses he successfully opened the door. A small victory smile crept upon his lips as he stepped inside. 'Anybody home!' He called out, walking towards the kitchen as he did so.

Paine looked away from the window, to where the sound came from. She felt an uneasy pressure on her chest when she heard his voice. 'In the living room.' She repeated. Baralai put everything away, before he made his way towards the couch, were Paine was sitting. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She moved her head backwards so she could stare up at him. 'Hi there.' He smiled. Paine forced a smile back. 'Hi.' He removed his hands and walked around the couch to sit next to her, placing one arm around her waist. She moved her head to lean on his shoulder, and he lay his head on top of hers.

'I came across Gippal.' He said.

'Oh.' She said simple.

'He asked if we'd like to come over to the Faction. You know, just for fun, no business.'

Paine raised her eyebrows and smirked. 'Oh really?' Baralai replied by nodding his head. 'No business just like last time, huh?' He chuckled at the sarcasm in her voice. 'I promise. Last time, something unexpected came up.' He said shrugging, careful not to bounce her head as he did this. 'Just a friendly visit this time…I think Rikku's going to be there too. Haven't seen her in a while, right?'

_O no…Rikku…But maybe, it's a good thing. It wouldn't be fair to keep this from her, since she's a good friend of mine too. What am I saying? It's not fair to keep it from Baralai either right. _Paine sighed deeply and frowned. _No but, that's different…right…?_

'Right?' Baralai nudged her to get her attention. '…what?' She asked him, she hadn't realized he was waiting for an answer. _What did he ask again? O right, Rikku. _'No, I haven't seen her in a while.' Pain stood up from the couch and move to the window. 'We should go, call Gippal and tell him we're coming.' He frowned a bit and nodded slowly. 'Okay.'

When he walked out of the living room to make his way towards the study, where the commsphere was at, Paine felled the pressure on her chest disappear slowly. She sighed deeply.

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_**Baralai's thoughts**She has been so different for a week now. Just as things were starting to go better, something happened which made her this closed person again. She's just so silent all the time. And I don't know what, I don't know why. I've tried to ask what's wrong, but she doesn't reply, or she just says it's nothing. She's hiding it, just like she used to hide things. Showing no emotion just makes me worry more. She'd been so open and...different ever since vegnagun was destroyed 2 years ago. I think it is because of the whole gullwings experience. But now...it seems like we're back at the beginning. I don't know what to do... I hope Gippal can help me out on this. _He sighed as he turned on the commsphere and tried to connect with the sphere at Djose. It took a while before someone answered it.

'Djose, Gippals not in, can I take a message?' Baralai blinked. _O right, he just left Bevelle. I'll just tell him that we're coming. _'Yeah err hi, could you tell Gippal that Baralai and Paine are coming over in about 2 days?'

The man on the other side looked around as if he was just called by someone. 'Uh, yeah sure, I'll give it trough.' Baralai didn't really trust it since the man looked a bit distracted. 'Be sure to tell him.' The man nodded hastily. 'I'll make sure he knows as soon as he gets back.' Baralai narrowed his eyes at the man. 'Alright.' Then the connection was closed.

1 Day later at Djose

Rikku walked trough the machina parts that were scattered around the floor in her room at Djose. Careful not to step on one of them. _Where the heck is that thing! _She removed one piece to reveal nothing more then the stone floor. She let out a frustrating growl. 'Gippal!'

No one replied, she sighed and walked towards the door to yell out once more. 'Gippalll!' She yelled a bit more demanding. She listened carefully, trying to hear something above all the noise of the temple. When she still didn't hear his voice, she stomped out of her room and down the stairs. _Where is that man, argh! When you don't need them, they're always around and when you do need them, they're nowhere to be found. _

She bounced of the stairs and looked around the room. _No Gippal. _She walked towards the doors to step outside. When she got there and looked around, _No Gippal_. _Fryd dra? Where the heck is he? _She got more and more annoyed, she started to walk further away from Djose temple. Finally she spotted him at the beginning of Mushroom Rock road.

_Ah, finally! _She bounced next to him and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He waved his hand at her, trying to make it clear that he was busy. Apparently something was up with the hovers or something, Rikku didn't really listen, or she didn't care. 'Gippy, I need your help.' She said pleadingly. She pouted at his back. Gippal rolled his eye at the nickname. 'Just one minute alright?' He said to Rikku before turning back to the hover driver. Rikku shrugged and wobbled from heals to toes. 'Alrighty.'

She looked around out of boredom when it took him longer then he said it would. Suddenly she spotted a man running over the bridge towards her. She blinked and narrowed her eyes. _What's he doing? _The man stopped right in front of her placing his hands on his knees and breathed heavily. 'Miss Rikku….I…pfff…I'm sorry to…tell you this late but….' he stopped to catch his breath. Rikku put her head to side and looked confused at the man in front of her. 'What are you trying to say?' The man finally controlled his breathing. 'Well I forgot to tell Gippal yesterday, that praetor Baralai called, but now that he's busy talking, I'll just tell you.' Rikku nodded, waiting patiently till he would tell her what he had to say. 'Baralai told me to inform Gippal that he is coming over. Together with Paine.' Rikku's eyes lit up. 'Really? They're coming over?' The man nodded. 'That's what he said, they'll be here tomorrow.'

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R & R


	3. Support

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Chapter 3

--Support--

Here we are, on our way to Djose. Just another few steps and were on the bridge that leads towards the temple. It's been so long since I last saw Rikku. After we defeated Vegnagun, there was this big party. Everyone was there, my friends, their friends, all smiling and laughing. I remember it well. It was one of the happiest times of my live. But right after that everyone went their separate ways. They're all busy with their lives. We don't see each other that much anymore. It's been at least 2 years since that party, and about half a year since we last were all together.

Now I'm on my way towards one of my best friends, and I'm scared. Scared of what she might say when she finds out, when I…tell her. Should I? Maybe this trip to Djose wasn't such a good Idea.

'Paine?' Paine felt a light jolt go trough her body when Baralai placed a hand on her shoulder. It snapped her out of her thoughts immediately. She turned her head towards him and looked at him. If he noticed her jumpy reaction, he didn't show it.

'We're here.' He said with a small smile, pointing at the temple in front of them. Paine turned her ruby eyes away from him and looked around, noticing a lot of people standing in line at the registration building. She frowned at that. 'I thought they weren't looking for diggers anymore…?' She said to Baralai. He followed her look towards the long line of people. 'Maybe they're not looking for diggers, but for something else. He looked more closely and noticed that almost everyone in line were Al Bhed. 'Engineers maybe?'

Just as they were walking towards the temple, Gippal came out through the doors. 'Hey, weren't expecting you for at least another hour.' He said as he walked towards his friends. Baralai frowned. 'No…we're right on time…at least I thought.' He looked over to Paine, but she just shrugged and looked away. Gippal smirked. 'Well, doesn't matter.' He grinned cockily and bowed. 'Welcome, welcome. Shall we proceed to your sleeping quarters?' A small smile crept upon Paines lips. Baralai laughed and smacked him on the back. 'Your making a fool out of yourself you know.' As he gestured to all the members of the Machine Faction staring at their leader. Gippal smirked and shrugged. He didn't really care. 'Come on, let's go. I hope Rikku has arranged the rooms properly by now.' he said as he led them towards the temple.

Their footsteps echoed trough the temple as they walked the stairs towards the sleeping area. 'You know, I just heard yesterday that you guys were coming over.' This made Baralai frown once again. 'But I specifically asked one of your workers to tell you about our arrival as soon as you got back from Bevelle.' Gippal chuckled and shook his head. 'I know, but he forgot.' They walked down the long hallway, passing by doors of different members of the Faction. Finally they stopped. 'Well, here we are. The door across yours is mine and Rikku's, so if you need anything, you know where to find us.' Rikku and Gippal have been together since about 5 months after the destruction of Vegnagun. Those two were born to be a couple. Everyone knew it, except them. So it took them some time to realize it.

Gippal knocked on the door and listened closely for a response. 'Riks? You in there?' After a few seconds of waiting the door opened, with a brightly smiling Rikku standing in the doorframe. 'Painy!' She yelled in a high pitched voice before jumping her into a hug. 'Ohhh I missed you! We have some much to catch up on!' Paine had her two eyebrows raised by now and wasn't sure how she should react. _I've never been good at this. _Rikku finally broke the hug and grinned at her. 'Come on, let's go!' She pushed a startled Paine back through the hallway towards somewhere Paine wasn't aware about. 'Uhm…Rikku? Where are we going?' This didn't make Rikku stop walking. Paine wasn't being pushed forward anymore. She was now walking besides her hyper friend. 'We're going outside, to talk! I have so much to tell you!'

Rikku sure wasn't lying about that. She does have a lot to tell me. I hope she doesn't notice me being lost in thoughts during her stories. Besides I'll probably hear them again for the next few days we're here.

I think I should tell her…I've thought about it the entire time on the trip over here. It's definitely better to tell her. She's probably going to suspect something later on anyway. Better to tell her now on free will then she pulling it out of me tomorrow or the day after that.

Paine sighed as she snapped out of it and noticed that Rikku was still busy talking. Making hand movements during her story's. Paine smiled faintly as she noticed that Rikku was still the same hyperactive go-happy girl, and she still talked with the same enthusiasm as always. They were sitting at the edge of a cliff on the end of the high road. Staring out over the ocean.

'And that's everything I have to tell so far.' She said at the end of her major story, then looked at her friend expectantly. Paine noticed this and narrowed her eyes. 'What?' Rikku shifted her position. 'Now it's your turn! Come on, tell something!' Paine smiled and turned her head in the direction of the water. The sun was going under, making the sky turn into a beautiful work of art. 'Well? Come on Painy, surely you've got something to tell me?' Rikku said when it took a bit to long for her till she got an answer. 'Rikku…there's something I need you to know.' Paine started not moving her eyes away from the scenery. Rikku nodded cheery, not knowing what was about to come. 'I'm pregnant Rikku…' She said. The words just rolled out, and she hold her breath waiting for a reply. She didn't look at Rikku, not sure what to expect she'd see. _Why isn't she saying anything…What is she doing? Maybe I should say something…should I…_The silence was finally broken by a squeak from Rikku's side. 'Oh my Yevon! No way! Your pregnant!' Paine's eyes grew wide as she heard the volume of Rikku's voice. 'Rikku, not so loud.' She hissed, warning her to keep her voice down. Rikku frowned, still talking in a normal tone. 'Why not?' She looked confused. Paine looked her directly in the eye. 'W…no…don't tell me…' Rikku started to say. Paine nodded as if she knew what her friend would say next. 'You haven't told him yet?' Paine gave her a small nod as an answer. Rikku shook her head in confusion. 'W…why not?' _Good question…I still need to find myself an answer on that. _Paine sighed and looked away. Trying to come up with something to say. 'I don't know how…I guess.' Rikku looked pretty angry at her friend now. 'Well you should tell him! He dissevers to know…Paine…' Her voice lost it's volume during her sentence as she looked at her friend, who's eyes were starting to water. Rikku was shocked at first but that was soon replaced by the caring friend she could be when needed. 'Paine…it's alright you know…everything's going to be fine…you'll see.' She placed one arm around her friends shoulder and smiled supportively. Paine just nodded. She wiped the tears away from her eyelids with the back of her hand. 'I know…' Rikku gave her a nudge. 'You should tell him…when you think you're ready.' Paine gave a snort. 'And when might that be?' She shook her head and sighed. Rikku looked down at the beach below them and squinted her eyes. 'Maybe now 's the best time…I'm here for you, to support you, if anything goes wrong. I'm sure that everything goes well! Baralai would make a great…' 'Father…yes I know.' Paine said instead of Rikku. _I know. _Rikku bit the inside of her lip. 'At least try…I'll go with you…alright?' Paine chuckled, then laughed. 'Pushy aren't you.' Rikku smirked and poked her. 'Hey, you're stealing my line.' Her friend smiled and stood up. She whipped the sand off of her pants. 'Let's go…I think I have something to announce.' Rikku jumped up and clapped her hands before she started dancing in place. 'Yeah!' Paine felt a feeling of determination take over her. _Okay…let's just…spill the beans and…see what happens. We'll figure it out on the way…yeah…we will. _

The two of them walked back towards the temple.

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Meanwhile

'Gippal Sir…I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but you have an emergency call on your commsphere. Gippal and Baralai looked up towards the messenger. 'An emergency?' Gippal asked with raised eyebrows. 'Yes Sir, that's what he said.' Gippal sighed and scratched the back of his neck. 'Sorry about this Baralai.' Baralai shrugged and shook his head. 'That's okay.'

Gippal sighed again and stood up, following the messenger to where the commsphere was.

He sat back at his desk and turned the screen on. 'Spill it.' He said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He frowned at the face that appeared on the screen. It was a praetor of Bevelle. 'I'm sorry if I interrupted anything important.' Gippal narrowed his eye suspiciously. 'No…that's alright.' Somehow this guy seemed a bit familiar to Gippal. 'I have to inform you that we are going to try and convince the people of Spira not to use machina on a regular base.' Gippal blinked at the screen. 'Excuse me?' The praetor smirked. He knew this was coming.

'We want the Machine Faction to…' Gippal narrowed his eye dangerously. 'To…what.'

'To…fire every Spiran working at the Faction, plus not hiring any either.' The Faction leader chuckled. 'Really…and that's for you to decide?' The man on the other side straitened his back. 'We're just asking for cooperation.' 'Really…' Gippal smirked . 'I'm afraid we're not going to.' The praetor frowned and nodded slowly. 'Look, we are holding a meeting, inviting every leader in Spira. We have been informed that praetor Baralai is staying at the Faction this moment. Could you inform him of our invitation?' Gippal chuckled. 'Yeah, sure…when's this meeting going to be hold?' The praetor took in breath. 'In 4 hours, at Bevelle. We hope both you and praetor Baralai will attend.' The connection closed after that. Gippal just stared at the screen for another five minutes, realizing why the man looked so familiar, he was at the dinner a few weeks ago. He sighed before standing up to tell Baralai the news.

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Read and review please :)


	4. Postponed

_**A/N:** I wanted to update sooner, but when I uploaded this chappie, I saw that it was a tad short. It only had like 900 words or something. I figured I couldn't do that to you guys. So I went back to writting and now it's a longer :D. I hate short chapters, their just...so short :P. Anyways, this is still not very long, but at least it's over 900 words :). _

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**Chapter 4**

**--Postponed--**

O Yevon, I don't remember ever being so nervous. I know that nothing can really go wrong. Of course he will be wanting to know why it took me so long to tell him. But he wouldn't be mad or anything. Baralai can't really get mad, at least not at me. She smiled. _Things will probably be just fine. Everything will fall into place…right…Wait…What if it doesn't…what if he gets scared…I've heard stories about guys freaking out when they heard they were gonna be a father. What if it goes the same for Baralai. Will he freak out? Maybe even ran away? _She stopped in tracks and stared at the ground. _He…won't do that, will he? _Rikku noticed her friend had stopped and walked back towards her. Her eyes showed a great deal of sympathy and she placed a hand on Paines shoulder. 'You're not ready…?' She asked her, and waited patiently for her answer. _Am I not ready? Should I wait…but what time would be a better time then? When should I tell him? When my belly starts showing? No…I should just…tell him. I'll see what happens afterwards…Just focus on that he won't freak out and run…he won't…I hope. _She looked up into the green swirls and smiled slightly. 'I am…ready.' Rikku smiled at her answer and cleared the way for Paine to go past her.

She smiled. She stopped in tracks and stared at the ground. Rikku noticed her friend had stopped and walked back towards her. Her eyes showed a great deal of sympathy and she placed a hand on Paines shoulder. 'You're not ready…?' She asked her, and waited patiently for her answer. She looked up into the green swirls and smiled slightly. 'I am…ready.' Rikku smiled at her answer and cleared the way for Paine to go past her. 

Meanwhile, Gippal had told his friend about the message he got, plus the invitation. It was something that they would've expected after the dinner they had. The praetors were pretty sure about their case. Another group was starting to form in Spira, one that nor Gippal or Baralai would be happy about. 'They'll cause trouble if they push this through.' Gippal said. He placed his hand on his forehead and sighed in frustration. Baralai just nodded and seemed to be lost in thought. 'Think we should go to this meeting thing?' Baralai looked up at his friend when he said this. 'Of course, if we don't go, they'll go trough with this in no time. We have to be there to let them know that we don't agree with their ideals.' Gippal nodded slightly. 'Yeah, guess you're right…I'll have 2 hovers send over as quickly as possible.' Baralai started to walk out of Gippals office they'd been standing in, Gippal following him. 'Oh! Wait just a sec, I forgot something. I'll be right back.' Gippal jogged towards the stairs in the middle of the 2 doors, leaving his friend behind in the centre of the temple. Baralai sighed. 'Yeah…sure…I'll wait.'

Paine and Rikku were now near the entrance. Walking side by side like true friends would.

When they got to the door, it was already open and a few Al Bhed were running on and off shouting orders. Rikku frowned and noticed that 2 hovers were positioned near the entrance of the temple. ''Fryd'c kuehk uh?' She asked in her own language to no one in particular. Paine didn't know either, but she shrugged it of when she spotted Baralai inside the temple near the stairways. She smiled softly and made her way towards him. Rikku stayed behind, figuring she could do this on her own. But she'd be close if Paine needed her.

Baralai was turned with his back towards her, looking up the stairs, tapping his foot in the stone floor. Gippal had just told him that they had to get to Bevelle asap, but now Gippal was taking his merry time packing up a few things. ´What is taking him so long.´ Baralai mumbled and sighed. He turned around just in time before Paine could tap him in the shoulder. ´Paine…´ He said, and looked at her with a surprised expression. How was he going to tell her he was leaving, while he promised that it would only be a friendly visit. He swallowed hard before he forced a smile. Paine nodded a greet. ´Baralai….I uhm…´ Baralai looked at her, frowning. ´Is something wrong?' _Okay…it's now or never. _'Baralai, I need to tell you something…I…I'm pre…' She was about to say the last word, when Gippal stormed down the stairs, smacking Baralai on the back. .._gnant_. 'Ready to go!' Baralai blinked at him and chuckled. 'You go ahead, I'll be out there in a sec.' Gippal shrugged and walked towards the temple doors, where Rikku was nearby, talking to one of the hover drivers, wanting to know what this was all about.

Baralai turned his attention back to Paine who was standing there with a slightly open mouth. 'You wanted to say something.' Paine blinked at him once before she looked back to where Gippal was. She narrowed her eyes. _They're leaving…? _'I uhm…' Her eyes turned to him again, her ruby coloured eyes looking at him with different emotions at the same time. He noticed this, but mistook it for the knowledge of him going away. 'I know, I'm sorry.' He took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes regretful. 'I know I promised you, no business this time, but this is really important. You see, this new group is forming and is already causing us quite the bit of trouble, and…' 'Go.' Paine said as she removed her eyes from the ground she was staring at when he spoke, to meet his eyes. Baralai looked at her, not sure if she meant it. 'Are you sure?' She sighed and nodded slowly. 'Yes…you should go, it's important…I understand.' She turned back to her emotionless self and stared at him. He smiled slightly, not noticing. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, giving her a soft kiss. She placed her hands on his chest and forgot, for just a moment, her secret and problems. Before Gippal breaking things up once again. 'You guys done! We should get going Lai!' He yelled impatiently. He was standing outside with Rikku next to him, who was for some reason he didn't know, a tad nervous.

Baralai broke the kiss and smiled at her. 'I'll see you in a few days, alright?' Paine forced a smile back and nodded. He took a few steps before he remembered something and stopped, turning back to Paine. He had his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. 'Wait…was there something you wanted to tell me?' Paine looked at him. Her mind telling her: _Yes I do, I'm pregnant Baralai. It's about a week ago when I found out, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was just…scared…about your reaction but mostly about me, being a mother. _Then of course he'd understand and tell her everything was going to be okay. But that's not what happened, that's not what she said. She knew she was going to make it even worse by what she was going to say next. But for some reason, she didn't feel like she shouldn't. She couldn't just hold him up when something important was going on. So she just shook her head. 'No…it can wait.' Baralai nodded, he waved goodbye, giving her a sweet smile, before he took of on one of the hovers outside.

I wish I would die…right on this spot…right now.

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_And thanks for the reviewers so far:D _


	5. Decision made

**Chapter 5**

**--Decision made --**

_I'm a mess. _

_Look at me sitting here. For 4 days now I've been sitting here, in my room at Djose…waiting…He calls 3 times per day. I answer, but don't say much most of the times. I see how he looks at me, with sadness and confusion. If only he knew, if only he knew I'm pregnant. And I want to tell him, but I can't just tell him over the commsphere, right? Besides, now with all that trouble going on at Bevelle. That new group is a serious trouble maker. They already have a few followers. A bunch of people quitted their job at the Faction already. In 4 days…can you imagine? Not that they're actually agree with the statements and ideals of this new group called New Spira (original I know…). But they're just scared that they'll get in to trouble somehow, since New Spira is threatening people. Gippal's pretty pissed about all of this. But Rikku cheers him up whenever he talks to her. _

_I wish I could do that for Baralai…and I could…if only I had told him that day…if only…_

_He said that he won't be back for at least another week. So now I have to wait, for another week…till I can tell him…but I can't…but I will._

_Yuna calls too, but I refuse to answer. I'm certainly not in the mood for one of her lectures. I will tell him…when he gets back. _

_Look at me sitting here. For 4 days now…I'm a mess._---

Rikku's thoughts

Rikku looked at the closed door of Paine and Baralai's room at Djose. _She hasn't come out ever since the guys left. Only when Baralai calls, she comes out. But goes back as soon as he closes the connection. She doesn't eat much, which can't be good for someone in pregnancy. And everything she does eat, eventually turns up in the toilet a minute later. _

Rikku sighed out of frustration over her friend. She started to walk down towards the work area. She had taken over the Faction for Gippal. Untill he's back, she's the boss. She never really realized how much work it all is, but she's handling it perfectly well.

Maybe she needs a distraction from all of this. Rikku greeted a couple of workers who happened to pass her by. _Like a vacation or something. _She passed by the open main doors and looked outside. _No line for sing ups today either. _She shook her head. It wasn't really crowded anymore around Djose. A lot of people gave up their jobs, well…a lot if Spiran people. The Al Bhed didn't really care about 'New Spira'. And Rikku was really proud of them. Once again, her people have proved to be quite capable of taking care of themselves. But still… _This thing has played a lot longer then we all know. How can they have so much power already in only 4 days…I don't get it. _She opened the door to Gippals office, which was hers now temporarily, and took a seat in his desk chair. She leaned back and glanced up at the ceiling. _How can everything go from great to bad in so little time. _Rubbing her temples, she leaned back forward to stare at the desk. _Empty. _Usually there would be piles of paperwork on it, but now, it was just empty. No applications, no orders, no need for repairs, nothing. Only a photo of her and Gippal at the Calm lands was all that stood on it. A picture taken when everything was okay, and nothing could seem to go wrong. _Oh how naïf we were…Nothing can go wrong?…Everything goes wrong! What's with people and machina! They're not bad at all! If you handle them right, nothing can go wrong really…Well…at least if it's not called Vegnagun. _Rikku frowned at the empty desk. 'Tysh ed!' She hit the desk with her fist. It trembled, making the photo jump up and fall of the desk. Crack.

Rikku greeted a couple of workers who happened to pass her by. She passed by the open main doors and looked outside. She shook her head. It wasn't really crowded anymore around Djose. A lot of people gave up their jobs, well…a lot if Spiran people. The Al Bhed didn't really care about 'New Spira'. And Rikku was really proud of them. Once again, her people have proved to be quite capable of taking care of themselves. But still… She opened the door to Gippals office, which was hers now temporarily, and took a seat in his desk chair. She leaned back and glanced up at the ceiling. Rubbing her temples, she leaned back forward to stare at the desk. Usually there would be piles of paperwork on it, but now, it was just empty. No applications, no orders, no need for repairs, nothing. Only a photo of her and Gippal at the Calm lands was all that stood on it. A picture taken when everything was okay, and nothing could seem to go wrong. Rikku frowned at the empty desk. 'Tysh ed!' She hit the desk with her fist. It trembled, making the photo jump up and fall of the desk. Crack. 

'Cred!' She cursed, rolling over to the left side of the desk where it fell on the ground. Broken glass lay on top of their picture. 'Ur hu…' A whine escaped her lips before she bent over to pick up the shattered glass, getting a cut in her thumb in the progress. 'Argh, this is just great. Just great!'

'Uhm…Miss Rikku?'

Rikku's head shot up, hitting the desk side in the progress. 'Ouwie.' She whined again and sat up straight with on hand on top of her head. Nekrin was standing in the door opening with a clipboard stuck between his hands. He eyed her with caution. 'Is this a bad time?' He asked as he watched her rubbing her head with her right hand and sucking on her left thumb at the same time. 'I can come back later and…' 'No, no…that's alright.' Rikku said quickly and rolled back behind the desk. She placed both elbows in it and folded her hands. 'Fryd lyh E tu vun oui?' He hesitated before taking a step forward. 'Well, there's a problem with the shipment from Bikanel Ma'am.' Nekrin looked at his clipboard and flipped a few pages. 'It seems that the people who where piloting the cargo airships submitted their resignation. Now they don't have anyone they can spare to fly the cargo's.' Rikku blinked at the man in front of her. _No way…well that's just great… _'You're not kidding are you?' Rikku said and growled as she leaned back in her chair. 'They don't have anyone to pilot those things?' She looked at Nekrin with raised eyebrows. 'No one they can spare, Ma'am. They're low on employment as it is, they can't just sent people of to pilot the ships. That way, we won't get at our schedule.' She shook her head. _This thing is giving me a headache…tysh! _'Who cares about the schedule. We need that shipment!' Nekrin took a step back from Rikku's outburst and looked at her shocked. 'Y..yes Ma'am.'

Rikku scratched her head and sighed. 'Look, just call up my brother Brother. I'm sure he wont mind to fly a few times back and forth.' _That way he can make himself useful for once. _Nekrin nodded and left the office. Rikku felt her head started throbbing and rubbed the spot where she hit the desk a few minutes ago. 'Ouwie…' She whined soft, and pouted when she looked at her slightly bleeding thumb.

---

Yuna's thoughts

Besaid was as peaceful as it always was. Or at least that's what Yuna thought, since she wasn't there. Instead, she was at Bevelle, going to meetings 24/7.

Lucky for her she had a few hours to herself now, and she decided to spent those precious hours with some sleeping.

She lay her head down on the soft mattress of her king sized bed in her hotel room. She placed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyelids, that had felled heavy all day.

Things couldn't be worse then they are right now. She twitched as the sun appeared from behind a cloud and shone on her tired face.

I wonder how Tidus is doing. She had left him at Besaid 3 days ago. They had decided to call her the last, since they didn't want to trouble her with anymore problems. Seeing as she already had defeated both Sin and Vegnagun. It was on Gippals orders not to inform her until things get really out of hand…and they did.

These guys don't now when to stop, do they? She stretched her arms and legs before turning on her side, away from the window and the sun beams.

How are we going to solve a problem like this. It's not like they listen to us…I've been here for 3 days now, some even for 4 days and it doesn't look like there's any progress in it.

Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and growled. _Let's just take some sleep, don't think about anything for the next few hours. Sleep!_

---

Paine's thoughts

This isn't going anywhere. I can´t take this anymore! This isn't good. Paine hit with her fists on the side of her bed, hard. It had to hurt, but she didn´t show it.

I should tell him now, I can´t wait! This is fair to anyone. She stood up frustrated and ran a hand trough her un styled hair. ´This is insane.´ She paced up and down in her room and pondered over her thoughts. ´Maybe I should just go see him…I should go to Bevelle right now and tell him.´ She nodded as if she was agreeing to herself. ´Yes…that´s actually what I´ll do.´ Paine stopped in her pacing and stared at her closet with determination. _Rikku won´t like this…And I wouldn´t hear the end of it from Yuna…But I have to tell him…I won´t tell them that I´m leaving. _She nodded again and walked towards her closet to start packing up her things for her travel.

She stood up frustrated and ran a hand trough her un styled hair. ´This is insane.´ She paced up and down in her room and pondered over her thoughts. ´Maybe I should just go see him…I should go to Bevelle right now and tell him.´ She nodded as if she was agreeing to herself. ´Yes…that´s actually what I´ll do.´ Paine stopped in her pacing and stared at her closet with determination. She nodded again and walked towards her closet to start packing up her things for her travel. 

I´ll go from here to the Moonflow…get a ride on a Shoopuff. I can probably get shelter at Guadosolam from Le Blanc and Nooj. Then I´ll make my way cross the Thunderplains. Get some rest at the travel agency. And go from there towards Macalania.

She planned the whole trip while she packed some clothes in a duffle back.

Now where did I put my sword?

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_And thanks for the reviewers so far:D _


	6. Panic

**A/N: **_The next chapter will probably come next week. I have a week off from school then (yay!) so I'll have plenty of time for writting...or typing, whatever. :)_

_Sorry for talking Dutch right now, but I have to thank FinalFantasyFangirl, and it's a bit long so it's easier in my own language:P_

_Heel erg bedankt dat je al die fouten eruit hebt gehaald :). Sommigen waren ook type fouten, of gewoon domme fouten :P. Ik heb geen engels meer op school dus heb ik die boeken jammer genoeg niet meer :S. __Ik zal ze veranderen als ik tijd heb. Volgende week dus, in de mei vakantie :P._

_---_

_Well, enjoy chapter 6 :D_

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**Chapter 6**

**--Panic--**

After an hour of just sitting in Gippals office, with nothing to do but think. Rikku decided that Paine had stayed in her room quiet long enough.

She walked down the hallway towards the room where her friend would be in. _This has taken long enough. I'll just tell her not to act like a child, hiding from her problems. _Rikku chuckled. _Méh, look who's talking. _She smiled slightly to herself when she walked upon the door. She shook her head and took in a deep breath, before she knocked once.

Silence…

_Maybe she didn't hear it._

She knocked again, a bit harder this time.

Silence…

Rikku cocked her head to one side. _Huh? Maybe she's in the bathroom…? _She shrugged and decided to knock again, a lot harder. So she did.

Silence…

She frowned at the closed door in front of her. _Alright…let's just open the door. Maybe she's sleeping, or still in the bathroom, or she just doesn't want to be bordered…Yeah, that's probably it. _She turned the doorknob, till she heard a soft '_click_'. Then she pushed open the door as silent as she could, and peeked around the corner.

Empty…

_Empty? _Rikku shovelled in the room, pushing the door entirely open as she did. She blinked and looked around. _Empty. _She frowned. 'Paine?'

No one answered.

'Paine!' She said a bit louder. Looking around again, she noticed the bathroom door was open. She walked around the bed, over to the door. But when she peeked inside, it was just as empty as the bedroom. This is the point when she started to panic. 'Paine!' She yelled. It made no deference, the room stayed empty. She looked in every corner, under the bed, under the covers, behind the curtains, in de closet…'Huh? Where are her clo…No way!' She dashed out the door and ran trough the long hallway as fast as she could.

A couple of employers who walked by, looking confused at their (temporarily) leader ran passed them. Rikku didn't really notice. She grabbed one of them by the shoulders. 'Have you seen Paine? You know, Paine? With silver coloured shortcut hair…you know?' She asked pleadingly, but the startled woman in front of her shook her head.

Rikku growled and ran towards the temple doors. She pushed them open, revealing nothing but the same grey sky above, and rocky environment as always

She ran a hand trough her hair, frustrated. _I can't believe it…I …I need tot talk to someone…I should inform Baralai, right? But then…I'll have to tell him why she left, right? Argh I don't know. I need…I need Gippal._

---

_Gippals Thoughts_

Just when Gippal was about to fall asleep for the first time in days, his commsphere bleeped. _You've got to be kidding me. _Gippal groaned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, or at least he tried. He turned on his side and looked at the commsphere that was positioned on the coffee table, hoping that it would stop. It didn't listen to Gippals prayers, and kept on bleeping.

_Who could it be? Don't they know that I have to sleep just as much as everyone else! _He sighed as the commsphere didn't stop. _Probably one of those 'New Spira' people. I'm not gonna answer this._

Gippal picked up a boot near the bed and threw it, aiming for the commsphere. It made contact and the commshere plus boot flew off the table, and onto the floor, where it finally stopped bleeping.

_Now at least I can get some rest._

---

_Rikku's thoughts_

'Please answer, please answer, please answer.' She mumbled softly to the commpshere that was trying to make contact with Gippals. It didn't though, and Rikku let out a small whimper.

_Now what am I supposed to do. Can't call Baralai without Paine's permission. Can't call Yuna, caus she's gonna freak out for sure. Can't call Brother, since he's driving the shipments. _Rikku fell back on the floor and just sat there.

_Maybe I should go look for her myself. She's probably going to Bevelle anyway. I could leave the Faction in charge of Narlen, Gippals right hand. _She stood up and made her way upstairs to pack and get her blades and dress spheres. _Wait…I can't go alone can I? Maybe I should call Tidus? _She turned on her heel and walked back down.

---

_At Besaid_

Tidus was just about to go to the beach, where the guys were waiting for him, to play Blitzball, when the commsphere caught his attention. 'Hey, it's bleeping…' He looked around, no one was near by, then back at the commsphere. _Maybe I should answer it?_ He placed his Blitzball on the ground and got on his knees to take a closer look at the sphere. _Now…how did it work again? Yuna told me before, but… _Tidus looked the thing over, noticing something going on and off. He pushed it and it connected. 'Yay!' He threw his fist in the air and looked down to see who it was.

'Oh, hey Rikku!' He frowned when Rikku didn't respond as cheerful as she always would. 'Something wrong?'

Rikku sighed and nodded. 'Yes, you could say that…Paine's gone missing.'

Tidus frowned once again. _Paine…isn't she pregnant? _Yuna told him about the pregnant issue about a week ago. Ever since she got back from Bevelle, she called Paine more then usual and she always looked either worried or deep in thought.

This stroke Tidus as peculiar, and after asking what's wrong for the 50th time, she finally she budged, and told him the whole story. She did ask not to tell anyone about it. 'Missing…like kidnapped, or you just don't know where she is?'

'The 'don't know where she is' kind of missing.' Rikku replied.

Tidus nodded at the sphere. 'Well, are you sure she didn't went away for a stroll or something?'

Rikku shook her head and looked a bit worried. 'No, I checked her room, her clothes are missing.'

He stared ahead of him, with a thoughtful look upon his face. 'Right. So have you called Yuna yet?'

Rikku shook her head and looked very helpless. 'I don't want to bother Yuna, she has enough on her head already. I did tried to call Gippal though, but he doesn't answer. I think he might be in a meeting.' She chewed on the inside of her bottom lip.

Tidus agreed that calling Yuna wasn't a good idea, and had to be put off for a better time. 'Alright, well you could always go look for her yourself.'

Rikku looked a bit happier when he said this. 'Well yeah, that's what I was planning to do…'

Tidus felt that that wasn't all she wanted to say. 'But…?' He asked her with narrowed eyes.

'But…I can't go alone. With all the fiends and all, plus the bandits at the Moonflow…It would be a lot safer if someone could come with…' She looked at the ceiling innocently, faking a 'but I don't know who' kind of look.

Tidus blinked at her, then chuckled. 'So you're asking me to come with you?'

Rikku turned her attention from the ceiling back at Tidus and smiled sweetly. 'If it's not to much trouble?' She asked, but she already knew what his answer was going to be.

He smiled too. 'Sure, I'll come with.'

Rikku grinned now. 'Ohh thank you thank you!'

'So…when are we leaving?'

Rikku stopped grinning and placed a finger on her chin. 'Well…how fast can you get here?'

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_Tidus and Rikku going on a quest to find Paine. I wonder how that will work out...:)_

_Please please Read and Review! _


	7. On our way

**A/N:**_I really appreciate all the reviews I'm getting! Thanks a lot everyone . And keep reviewing please :)._

_So, here's chapter 7. Finally some action in this one. Sorry if the others were a bit long-winded. Oh, and I'll try to fix those grammer mistakes that FinalFantasyfangirl pointed out. I've been really busy this holiday, but I'll try to fix them tomorrow or Monday._

_Anyways, enjoy reading :)._**

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**Chapter 7**

**--On our way--**

Rikku had called her brother after her and Tidus got of the commsphere. He was still in Bikanel, ready to departure and fly to Djose. Lucky for her that he was willing to take Tidus with him.

Tidus didn't feel so lucky though, since Brother disliked him ever since they re-met. Rikku told him it was about Yuna, but he never really understood that.

With the Celsius it took him only half a day to get to Djose. And he managed to stay out of Brothers way the entire time.

Rikku giggled when Tidus practically ran out of the Celcius when it landed. He carried a duffle bag with him, and his sword, that hang over his shoulder. Brother walked out after him, with a couple of other Al Bheds.

'It's not like he'll bite you or anything.' Rikku said between giggles. Tidus smiled nervously. 'Yeah I know, but still.'

She shook her head and looked over his shoulder to see what her brother was up to. He was ordering people around, who where moving the wooden boxes into Djose. She smiled a soft smile.

'He won't hurt you, really. He's still thankful that you looked out for me when we fought Sin back then.' Tidus raised his eyebrows. 'You know he asked me that?'

She smirked. 'Well yeah, I was right outside the door.' She gave him a playful push and he smiled.

'So, you ready to go? Or do you want to eat something first?' She flung her own bag over her shoulder, still looking at him. Tidus narrowed his eyes and looked like he was thinking. 'I'm always in for food…but…I already ate on the Celcius, so that would only be a loss of time.'

Rikku nodded in agreement. 'Right, the longer we stay here, the longer the distance is between us and Paine.'

Tidus nodded too and took the first two steps of their long journey. He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. 'So…are you coming or what?'

Rikku smirked and took her place next to him.

Then, they started walking.

**First destination:**

**The Moonflow.**

---

_**At Bevelle a few hours later**_

Baralai slumped on a couch that stood in his room. His head facing the ceiling, eyes closed. He sighed deeply as he tried to ban all the previous meetings and debating out of his head when he was once again interrupted.

'Baralai!'

Baralai growled but didn't answer. '_Just pretend that you're asleep, maybe they'll go away if they think you're asleep.' _He held in his breath as he listened closely.

'Baralai! Open the door!'

This time, the person who stood outside in the hallway, banged on his door.

'_I guess he doesn't care whether I 'm a sleep or not. He'll just wake me up by breaking down my door, argh!' _He shook his head, then tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

'Baralai common! It's important!'

'It's always important these days.' He growled, and he got up to open the door. He already recognized the voice when it called his name for the second time.

He opened the door and glared hard at his friend Gippal. 'What?' He hissed. Gippal walked in, looking worried, which didn't sooth Baralai at all. He closed the door and turned to Gippal with crossed arms, waiting for him to reply his question.

Gippal ran a hand trough his hair, that already looked like a mess. 'Rikku's gone.'

Baralai frowned. 'Excuse me?'

Gippal bit the inside of his lip before he replied again. 'Rikku is gone.' He said, a bit clearer.

'Yeah, I understood you the first time, but…when…why?' Baralai took a seat in one of the comfy looking chairs that stood opposite from the couch.

Gippal followed his example and sat on the couch, placing his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his face with his hands. 'I don't know. I called the Faction a few minutes ago, to see how she's doing. And they said that she had left a couple of hours ago, with this blond guy they didn't recognize. Do You think…do you think she's cheating on me?'

Baralai's eyes widen before he shook his head furiously. 'No way man, she wouldn't do that and you know it. So stop thinking like that, alright. There's probably a good explanation for it.' He thought for a moment when something gained him. 'Wait, if Rikku's gone, and only that blond guy went with her…then where's Paine?'

Gippal frowned. 'I don't know, they didn't say.'

Baralai's hart started to beat faster. 'Call them back, ask them where Paine is.'

Gippal eyed his friend. 'But what if…'

'Just call them, alright!' Baralai said, interrupting him. Gippal nodded, understanding it, and he stood up to make his way to the other room where the commsphere was. Baralai stayed behind, leaned back in the chair.

…..

'Ymnekrd, dryhgc' ( **Alright thanks **) Gippal said and disconnected the commsphere. He shook his head as he thought over the conversation he just had. 'Baralai's not going to like this.'

He walked out of the room and back into the living room. Baralai was still sitting in the chair, in the same position as he left him in. He looked up when Gippal entered.

'And?'

Gippal sighed as he pondered over whether to tell Baralai or not. '_Better tell him…but then his mind would be somewhere else during the final meeting tomorrow. Wait, what am I thinking. He's probably not even going to attend.' _

Baralai leaned forward in the chair and glared at Gippal. 'AND?' He said a bit louder this time. Gippal jumped a bit, since he was lost in thought. '_Just tell him.' _

'They said that the day before Rikku left, she was acting kind of strange. She almost strangled a Faction member, asking her if she'd seen Paine. Apparently she was missing, as well as her clothes and her sword. No one had seen her leave. Rikku left to look for her the next day, right after that blond guy arrived.'

Baralai didn't even blink when Gippal told him the story. Gippal finished and he examined his friend. 'Baralai?' He tried with caution.

'It's all my fault.' Baralai said, he stared at the coffee table between the couch and the chairs. 'It's my fault she left.' Gippal sighed and walked over to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'No it's not, don't think like that Lai.'

Baralai didn't really hear him. 'I shouldn't have left. I knew something was wrong. She'd been acting strange for a few weeks or so now. I told her this trip would just be a friendly one, and I couldn't keep that promiss, again. She left because of me.'

Gippal shook his head and crouched next to his friend, to get a better eye contact. 'She didn't leave because of you, stop saying that. Have you even thought about where she had gone to?'

Baralai looked at his friend when he said this. 'Where…' He mumbled.

Gippal smirked and got up to his feet. 'I don't know, but Nekrin told me that he overheard Rikku say, her and the blond guy were going to the Moonflow.'

---

_Paine's thoughts_

_Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to run away like that. Not even leaving a note. I wonder if they'll come after me…Knowing Rikku she probably would. _

_I do hope she didn't call Baralai and tell the whole thing. Or Yuna, since she's going to freak out when she hears what I did._

_I hope Le Blanc is at home. Didn't bring that much gill with me, so staying at the inn is not an option. I have to spare money for potions, since I didn't bring to many of those with me either. Argh…stupid stupid… _

Paine smacked a hand in her face. She had just taken a shoopuf to get across the Moonflow and was now walking towards Guadosolam.

She'd gotten a ride from a friendly Al Bhed on his hover, which she was thankful for. Now she had at least a few hours head start on Rikku, or whoever would come to look for her.

She walked down the sandy road, passing the first few trees of the forest that surrounded Guadosolam.

She heard this zooming noice when she got to the first turn. She frowned and stopped to look around. _'Nothing.' _She listened closely but the noise had appeared to have stopped. Shrugging it off she started to walk again.

But when she only took a like 4 steps, she was surprised by a large bee. It knocked her to the ground, scratching it's needle across her left arm, creating a deep cut. Paine bit her lip as she felt the poison sting. She grabbed hold of her sword and got to her feet. Her eyes widened as she noticed the bee coming in for another attack.

She ducked away just in time and landed in a crouch grace-fully. 'You want to play it like that? Fine.' She spat out. She charged the bee and flung her sword at it as hard as she could. It tried to fly away but she managed to wound it across it's body.

The bee zoomed angrily at her. He pointed it's needle forward, and flew in. It got her in the leg and she cursed. _'I should change to gunner.' _She took out her grid and switched. The transformation took place, the bee still zooming above her head.

Paine got out both her guns and pointed them at the bee. 'Bang.' She said in her usual tone, and she fired, killing the bee in an instant.

She smiled, satisfied of her job and switched back to her normal dressphere. She quickly got out an antidote and a potion for her wounds and went on her way again. _First encounter: Succesful_

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_**Read and Review please!**_


	8. One day's head start

**A/N: **_A Rikku and Gippals moment in this chapter for the Rikku x Gippal fans. '_

_Sorry for the slow update...or at least I think it was a slow update. Hope you guys don't mind :). Well uhm...not much to tell...so..._

_Enjoy!_

_Oh and don't forget to send me some feedback!_

**

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**Chapter 8**

**--One day's head start--**

Rikku and Tidus had walked all day and were now waiting for a Shoopuf to departure.

Rikku said on the stairs as Tidus was talking to one of the caretakers. It wasn't any good news, apparently the last ride for that day had just left a couple of minutes ago.

Tidus scratched the back of his head. 'Well, thanks anyway.' He said, a bit disappointed.

The hypello nodded and walked away, probably to where his home was, since his shift had ended.

Tidus sat next to Rikku on the stairs and.

'No more Shoopufs for today, right?' Rikku said in a dull voice. She grabbed her bag and put it in between her legs. She fiddled with the ropes, trying to untie the knob.

'No more Shoopufs.' He repeated. 'The first one tomorrow is around 7, so I suggest we take that one.'

Rikku nodded slowly. She successfully undid the knob and was now rumbling around, searching for her wallet. 'We should get a room at the inn then.'

Tidus looked at her from aside. 'Inn? I thought there wasn't an inn here. Last time we had to spent the night outside, remember?'

Rikku smirked and nodded. She stood up and placed swung her bag over her shoulder. 'I know, but about a year ago, Rinn decided to build one here too. Let's go.'

Excistant

---

Almost everyone was asleep when Paine arrived at Guadosolam. Only a few were still awake, they were listening to Pukutak who was playing her flute in a most gentle and soft way. She played a tune of what looked like to be a lullaby.

Paine smiled slightly at the beautiful notes she played. She walked passed the small crowd of people, straight to the door that was used as an entrance for Chateau Le Blanc. Paine figured that staying in a chateau for free was better then staying at the inn for half the money she brought with her.

She knocked once she was at the door. It almost immediately opened and one of the femme goons came into view.

The goon tilted her head to aside. 'Yes?'

Paine looked at her blankly. 'I'm Paine, one of the ex-Gullwings. Is Le Blanc at home?' She asked her and looked over the goons shoulder.

The goon nodded a bit and took a step backwards so that Paine could enter. 'She should be upstairs, in her room.' She said.

Paine stepped inside and walked passed the goon towards the staircase. The goon closed the door and went back to wherever she came from.

Paine found Le Blanc, sitting at her make-up table in a white robe, powdering her nose, or whatever it was she was doing.

She stood in de doorway, unsure of how to pronounce her presence. Finally she decided to just knock on the doorframe.

Le Blanc turned around at the sound of the knock. 'Oh, hello love!' She squealed surprised.

Paine forced a small smile and nodded a greet.

Le Blanc placed down her powder box and stood up. 'What can I do you for you?' She asked Paine, as she walked over to her closet.

Paine sighed. _Now or never. _She walked in the room with determined steps. 'I was just wondering…If you have a room to spare for one night.' She managed to speak out.

Le blanc stopped fiddling around in her closet for a few seconds. 'Sure love.' She said blankly.

Paine blinked. 'Really?' Her voice sounded a bit surprised, just a tiny bit.

Le blanc turned towards her, a very pink dress in one hand. 'Of course. You're my Noojie Woojies friend, right? I'll do anything for my Noojie. And I'm sure that he would want me to give you a room for the night.' She walked to her bed and placed the dress on it. 'You can stay in the guest room down the hall.' She pointed in the direction of the door. 'It's just been build. I'm sure you'll like it.'

She looked over her shoulder to where Paine stood. She was still in the middle of the room. 'You can go now love. I need to change for a party tonight. My Noojie Woojie is picking me up in less then 30 minutes, so I don't have to for a chitchat, sorry.' She explained, before turning her back to Paine.

Paine shrugged. 'Alright…uhm..Thanks.' She walked out of the bedroom and closed the door.

_She didn't even ask why. _She smiled slightly to herself and went to the other side of the hall, towards the newly build guestroom.

---

Rikku and Tidus had just settled in at the travel agency. They sat at the bar that was build on the first floor, a newly added accommodation. Every travel agency across Spira had one. Well, every travel agency across Spira owned by Rin, that is. Oaca hadn't build one yet, since he was a little low on cash.

The agency's now also had a restaurant, including the one Rikku and Tidus were staying at.

They were now enjoying their beverage, occasionally talking to each other. The barkeeper of that bar was none other then their Barkeep at the Celsius. After the Gullwings had parted, Barkeep decided that that was his cue to look for a job near his homeland. So he moved down here, together with his Darling. Now he was the manager and barkeeper of this bar at the travel agency. Darling was around too, taking care of the rooms.

Rikku sighed as her mind once again travelled to Paine. _I wonder where she is. I hope she's alright. _She shook her head. _Come on, of course she is. If anyone would be capable of taking care of themselves, it would be Paine. _She smiled slightly and took a sip of her drink.

Tidus had his own thoughts. _What's Yuna doing now? Sure miss her. But we're on our way to Bevelle anyway. _He grinned. _Maybe I should tell her we're coming over? _He nodded mentally. But then sighed when he realized he couldn't. _No stupid. You can't tell her about this. I promised Rikku to not tell anyone about what's going on._

Rikku was about to take another sip from her drink when a Hypello tapped her on her shoulder. She turned around on her bar seat and looked at the man/woman (you can't really tell with Hypello's) with a curious expression. 'Yes?'

The Hypello pointed towards the far end of the bar where a commsphere was installed. 'Missh, yoush have a spheresh call.' He slished out.

Rikku blinked at the it. _A call? Who could it be…?_ She slide of her seat. 'Okay, thanks.' She said and took the call.

'Hello? Rikku here…' She said with caution, since she had no idea who it could be. But that was soon cleared as Gippals face came into view. 'Gippal!' She exclaimed happily and grinned at him.

Gippal didn't return a smile, he looked pretty serious. Rikku felled her stomach go upside down. _Cred, he knows. _She cursed mentally.

He eyed her and ran a careless hand trough his hair.'Ymnekrd Rikku…E'ja paah dnoehk du veht uid frana oui yna vun dra mycd luibma uv ruinc huf, cu E haat oui du pa ruhacd fedr sa.' (**Alright Rikku…I've been trying to find out where you are for the last couple of hours now, so I need you to be honest with me**)

Rikku smiled nervously. _Cred cred cred cred. _

He swallowed. 'E ghuf ypuid dra udran kio, Rikku. Cu E't mega du ghuf fryd'c kuehk uh.' (**I know about the other guy, Rikku. So I'd like to know what's going on**)

_Cred cre…huh? _She blinked at him. 'Fryd yna oui dymgehk ypuid Gippal?' (**What are you talking about Gippal?**)

'Don't play dumb Rikku. I've heard.' He said, switching tongues.

Rikku raised her eyebrows. 'Gippal…again: What are you talking about?'

Gippal looked angry now and he raised his fist to hit the desk he was sitting at. It made her jump up, startled. 'You're cheating on me, aren't you?' He spat out.

Rikku's eyes went wide of shock. 'What! What makes you say that?' She said. Fryd dra_…wait…Ohhh, I get it. _A small smile spread across her lips, after a few seconds she started to giggle, and those giggles eventually turned into laughing.

This time it was Gippal who blinked. 'Rikku, I can't see the humour in this. So it's true, right?' His voice sounded a mix of annoyance, anger and sadness.

Rikku stopped laughing, but she still smiled at him.'Uv luinca hud, cemmo.'(**Of course not, silly**) She said, her smile turning into a warm one. 'You know I won't ever cheat on you. E muja oui.'

Gippals anger and annoyance disappeared and were replaced by relieve, but he still looked a tad sad as well. 'But I…I called the Faction, they said that you left with some guy and…'

Rikku shushed him. 'Argh you stupid! That was Tidus. You remember Tidus right? Yuna's boyfriend. You've met him before.'

'Pid…'

'No buts. There is nothing going on between us. We're just…' She hesitated for a moment. _Should I tell him? _She decided that it would be best if he knew, as long as he didn't tell Baralai though. 'We're looking for Paine. She ran away and we've got a pretty good idea of where she's heading.'

The sadness had now fully disappeared. He sure was relieved that his girlfriend wasn't cheating on him, but somewhere he knew that she would never do such a thing. But what was this about a run away Paine?

'Any idea of why she might've ran away?'

Rikku sighed and nodded slowly. 'Oayr…cra'c bnakhyhd' (**Yeah…she's pregnant**)

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_So what did you think of it? _

_Please do tell..._

_Read and **Review! **_


	9. Chocolate Cereal

_**A/N: **Hiya everyone! Sorry about this chapter being so short. And I'm afraid that I have to say sorry again since I probably won't be able to update within the next 2 weeks. School and all, argh._

_But please do enjoy this chapter, and give me some reviews please _**

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**Chapter 9**

**--Chocolate cereal--**

'_Yeah…she's pregnant.' _

Right after Rikku had spoken those words, a loud crash and tumbling was heard from Gippals side of the connection. Then a door that smashed shut.

Gippal stood up hastily during this. 'Cred! Wait! Stop, come back!'

He walked out of Rikku's view, who was watching the commsphere with wide eyes. She heard a door open and hurried footsteps that died away. _No…wait…what just happened? _She started to feel nervous, sweat breaking out. _What was that? _'Gippal?' She spoke shakily. But no one answered.

She bit her lip nervously, waiting impatient for Gippal to return, but he didn't came back.

Shecursed silently and waited some more.

Finally Gippal came back, but his face didn't show an emotion that would sooth Rikku. He looked worried when he faced the sphere again.

'Okay Rikku…d…don't flip…alright? Just stay calm.' He said slowly, trying to figure out how to say this.

Rikku stared at him with wide eyes. _Why do I have the feeling I just did something very stupid._ She bit her lip again.

'I wasn't alone in this room when I called you Riks…Ba…Baralai was here too…' He said, eying his girlfriend closely for her reaction.

Rikku's breath got caught in her throat. She stared at the sphere blankly, thoughts running trough her head. But one thought stuck with her more then any of the others. _I'm dead…I'm dead…Paines gonna kill me…… _She swallowed hard and shook her head, trying to get the image of Paine swaying her big sword at her out of her mind. Her eyes closed for a second. When she reopened her eyes and focused them. she noticed Gippal waving a hand in the air.

'Rikku, are you alright?'

Rikku took in the words slowly and started to nod. Her face still carrying a shocked expression. Skin as pale as a white sheet. 'W…why didn't you worn me?'

He bit his lip. 'Well I uh…I didn't really thought about that.' His eyes cast down. 'Cunno.' He mumbled.

Rikku groaned. _Great…How am I ever going to make this up to Paine. _Tears were swelling up in the corners of her eyes

Gippal saw this and wished he was there by her side. Instead he was stuck here in Bevelle. He gave her a supportive smile. 'It's going to be alright, in the end.'

She nodded again, swallowing once more before asking a question that burned a hole in her mind. 'Wh…Where is Baralai?' Her voice sounded hoarse, since her throat felt dry.

He ran a hand trough his hair as he looked away for a moment, probably at the open door where Baralai (and himself) had stormed out trough. 'He uh…went after Paine, I think.'

---

_Well this is nice…Sitting here at a table eating breakfast with some goons who're staring holes in my back. I don't know why, maybe I should ask them?_

_Nah…maybe not. It could be because I aman ex-Gullwing ore something._

Paine looked over her shoulder to see the 2 goons from across the table averting their gazes towards the sphere screen, staring at it with huge interest, although they hadn't had a clue on what was on. Paine shook her head annoyingly. 'If you guys don't stop glaring invisible holes in my back, I will make you two some real once in yours.' She spat and narrowed her eyes at them dangerously.

The two swallowed and decided it was time for them to leave. Not only because Paine sounded pretty scary, but also cause her sword was leaning right beside her against the chair, and she was already grabbing for it.

Paine chuckled at the sight of them running out trough the large dinning room doors.

_Now I can enjoy some peace and quit. _

She thought amused and turned her attention back towards her big bowl of chocolate cereal.

She chuckled again when she propped a spoon full of cereal in her mouth.

_Strange…I never liked chocolate cereal…_

After she ate the entire bowl of cereal she decided that it was time for her to go. She still had a long way to travel. So it wasn't such a good idea to just linger at Le Blanc's.

She grabbed her bag and stuffed it full with some potions she saw lying around. _Hope she doesn't mind me taking this. _She smirked.

Grabbing her sword and her bag, which she swung on her back, she made her way towards the large doors. She felt rather cheerful today, a bit strange if you looked at the situation she was still in.

When she came in the hallway she was greeted by Le Blanc herself who was just coming down the stairs in that white robe of hers. Her left hand sliding down the railing behind her.

'Well good morning love.' She greeted with a happy sounding voice.

'Good morning.' She said and stopped to wait till Le Blanc was down to her level.

Le Blanc smiled at her and ran a hand trough her hair carefully. 'Yes, and what a morning it is.' She said, smiling a bit brighter.

Paine smirked. 'I take it you had fun last night...?'

Le Blanc's face turned slightly red. 'Err, yes...the party was err...nice.' She stuttered

Paine smirked even more. 'I see.'

'So uh, did you like the new guestroom?' Le Blanc said, hastily trying to change the subject.

'Yes uh…it is very…_pink _beautiful.' She managed to say.

Le blanc nodded agreeing. 'Yes I think so too.' She held her chin up in the air. 'You know, I decorated it.' Her voice sounded proud.

_Ah, that explains the pink. _Paine swallowed away a giggle (yes a giggle). 'Well, you did a very good job.' She said, not meaning a word of it. Pink wasn't really Paines colour, and that was what the room was based on...pink. Not just the bed spray, or the carpet...no...the entire room had different shades of pink in it. She glanced over Le Blanc's shoulder at the door. _I really should get going…_

Le Blanc noticed this and she raised her eyebrows. 'Oh, I take it you were about to leave?' She noted the bag and sword that Paine had on her bag.

Paine nodded and smiled a small smile. 'Yes.'

Le Blanc took a step aside to clear a path. 'Well then I'm sorry if I held you up. It was nice seeing you again. You know you're always welcome here love.' She said with a kind smile (yes a kind smile).

Paine smiled back. _Well she's rather friendly today. _She walked passed her. When she reached the door she turned around. 'See you around Le blanc. Oh, and say hi to Nooj for me will you?' She said with a mischievous smile.

Le blanc turned a bright colour of red. 'Well err…what makes you think he's here?' She said, glancing towards the upstairs floor momentarily.

Paine smirked. 'I didn't say that…' She opened the door, and left.

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_What's Baralai going to do now that he knows? O.o Big problem for Paine there... Next stop for her: Thunder Plains. So tune in for the next chapter, that'll be coming a bit later -ashamed-_

_Oh, and I'll say it again:_

_Read and Review_


	10. Getting closer

**A/N: **_I am so sorry that it took me this long to update this chapter :( . I don't even have a good excuse, at least not for this week. But last week I still had school and all, so._

_But never mind. I updated, finally. The past and present are a bit mixed. What I mean is that Gippal / Baralai / Yuna are still living around last night, about 20 minutes after the call Gippal gave to Rikku. Paine is living in the present, meaning the morning after._

_Alrighty, I hope you'll all like it, and that you're not angry with me for updating this late ehehe..._

_Let's just go on with the story, shall we?_**

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**Chapter 10**

_-_**Getting closer**-

_The night before_

Gippal ran down to the reception of the hotel everyone was checked in. He looked around, almost desperate, but he didn't see him…he didn't see his friend. 'Baralai…' He mumbled softly and shook his head, scratching the back of his neck at the same time.

'What's with Baralai?' He heard someone say behind him. When he spun around he saw that Yuna was looking at him questionably.

'Err..' He said, startled. 'He uh…'

Yuna tilted her head, obviously confused about Gippals startled attitude all of the sudden.

Gippal bit his lip. _What should I say. Does she know that Paine is pregnant? Maybe I should just tell her. _'Well you see…Paine is pregnant…' He eyed her, watching her reaction closely.

Yuna looked surprised 'Yes, I know…when did _you_ found out?' Suddenly her eyes widened. 'Wait! Does this mean that Baralai knows it too!' She exclaimed shocked.

People around them looked in their direction. A concierge stopped mopping the floor and looked at them with raised eyebrows. The clerk turned around at the sound of Yuna's voice. A few quest stopped what they were doing and looked at the two.

Gippal raised his gloved hands and clasped them over Yuna's mouth. 'Sjeesh Yuna, you want everyone to know?'

Yuna blinked at him, her eyes looked regretful.

Gippal sighed and removed his hands from her mouth. 'Look, Baralai…' He was about to tell her what happened about 20 minutes ago, but when he looked around and saw that most of the people were still staring at them, he decided against it. 'Let's go somewhere private first.' He said as his eyes mentioned for the people around them. He put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her out of the hotel.

'There is not much time really. I have to run after Baralai.' Gippal told Yuna, right after they stepped out of the hotel.

'I don't understand, where is Baralai?' She looked confused again, and looked at him, right in the eye.

Gippal sighed again, looking in the direction of the gates that leaded to the Macalania woods. 'He's out there, somewhere, looking for Paine.'

Yuna studied his face, one eye narrowed, eyebrows in a frown. 'Why would he do that…Paine's at…Djose…right.' She said, although she already knew that it wasn't true, by the looks of Gippals face when she was saying that. When Gippal didn't give an answer, she shook her head, knowing it for sure now. Her face showed that she was worried. 'She ran off, didn't she.' When Gippal nodded, she sighed. 'I knew something was going to happen…something like this. You know I told her, I told her to tell him! But you think she listened to me? No! She's to damn stubborn.' She crossed her arms, clearly angry with her friend. But still, the emotion of worry took over and slowly her eyes began to water. 'I hope she's alright.' She whispered softly, and sniffled.

Gippal looked at her from the corner of his eye. _Great, now I´m stuck with the crying girl. Thanks a lot Lai. _He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck, beginning to feel uncomfortable. ´I should go and follow Lai. Who knows what he´s going to do, now that he knows.´ Yuna just nodded and kept on sniffling. Gippal sighed and turned to her fully, placing a hand on her shoulder. ´Look Yuna…everything is going to be alright, you´ll see.´ She nodded again, but this time with a small smile. He squeezed her shoulder shortly, then headed towards the gates. He turned around once, calling out to her. ´Hey! Tell those New Spira idiots that me and Lai are gone, and that we probably wont be back for some time.´

Yuna nodded. ´Okay.´ She said quickly.

´Oh! And another thing.´ Gippal said, pointing a finger in the air. ´Tell them to go screw themselves.´

Yuna´s eyes widened and she stared at Gippals smirking face bemused. ´I…I can´t…tell them that.´

Gippal just shook his head and chuckled, before he turned back and disappeared around the corner. His gun strapped on his back.

Yuna started to smile softly to herself as she thought of his words and was about to go back inside the hotel. _Wait. _She stopped in her tracks. _Baralai is gone…Gippal is gone…that just leaves me and Nooj to deal with the New Spira issue. _She blinked, then turned on her heel and ran after the Faction leader. ´Gippal! Wait up!´

---

_Present_

_Maybe I should have waited until the storm passed over. _Paine thought. She had just been on the Thunder plains for 10 minutes, and she could already feel the first drops of a heavy storm. Paine bit her lip and looked up at the darkening sky. _I should have waited. _She confirmed herself and looked back in the direction of the opening that had led her out of Guadosalam and onto the Thunder Plains. It wasn't visible anymore, due to the darkness around her and the rain that was slowly starting to go from 'just a few drops' to 'buckets filled with water falling from the sky'. Paine sighed as her hair started to get soaked and plastered on her face. She started to walk again. One hand holding the duffle bag and sword that were lying on her back, the other on her stomach. She didn't know why, maybe for protection? She looked down at her still flat stomach and swallowed hard. _I'm sorry you have to go trough this…You're not even born yet and I'm already being a bad mother. I am so sorry._

_---_

_The night before_

The young praetor ran trough the dead woods of Macalania. The trees had lost their mystique long ago.

Baralai pushed the branches away to clear his path, not really paying attention to the rest of his surroundings. Not a good thing to do. And he would find out soon enough.

When he came at the part where the roads crossed, he encountered a fiend. It sneaked upon him, surprising him by suddenly jumping out of the bushes.

Baralai jolted to the side as it charged him. His reflexes saving him from a nasty blow. He looked at the fiend and noticed that it was a Chimera. It looked at him pretty angry and Baralai cursed that he didn't bring his weapon with him.

Just when the Chimera was about to hit the praetor with a thundera spell, a gunshot was heard from behind him and hit the Chimera right between the eyes. It roared before it hit the ground with a loud thud and disappeared into perryflies.

Baralai blinked at the disappearing form. 'What the…' He turned around and saw Gippal running towards him, gun in his hands. Smoke came out of his gun, so apparently he shot the fiend. Strolling behind him was non other then Yuna.

'Lai! What are you thinking! Running off like that, not even bringing a weapon for crying out loud!' Gippal said to him distressed, he hit his head with his hand. Then grabbed something from his belt.

'Sorry.' Baralai mumbled, but he wasn't really paying attention and he started walking off again. 'Thanks for the rescue by the way.' He said, not looking back.

Yuna looked from Baralai's back towards Gippal with a look of worry. 'We should go with him.'

Gippal nodded. 'I was planning to go with him.' He grabbed a smaller gun and went after his friend. 'Here you go.' He said, holding out the gun. Baralai glanced towards the gun, before he focused on the road ahead of him again. Gippal looked at him with his eyes narrowed, then he smirked. 'You do know how to use one, right?'

This made Baralai grab the gun, and hang it on his belt. 'Of course I do.'

Yuna walked behind the two men, her two guns placed in their holster, waiting to be used for another fiend attack.

---

_Present_

'Come on Tidus, hurry up!' A bouncy Rikku yelled back at Tidus who was a few feat behind.

'Coming!' He yelled back as he quickened his pace. He caught up with her and they walked / bounced side by side.

Rikku looked up as she saw Guadosalam coming in view. She sighed an mumbled. 'I hope we're not to far behind.'

* * *

_They're getting closer! Paine's getting closed in, with Tidus and Rikku coming from one side and Baralai, Gippal and Yuna coming from the other. But there is this storm coming up so...what will happen? O.o I hope I'll see youat the next chapter :)._

_Oh! And thanks for everyone who reviewed on the last chapters:D_

_And please...again_

_Read **and** Review_


	11. Helpless

**A/N: **_Fast update, right? I thought so :D. I just felled like writing, so I did, and here's the result :P. But I have to disappoint some of you, the people who like this story that is, because...we're nearing the end! I know, I know, it's horrible, but every story has an end, even this one. But, nearing the end doesn't mean that the next chapter will be the last...I think that another 3 chapters will be updated after this one, then it'll finally finished :) _

So enjoy the last couple of chapters, and please people...review!

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**Chapter 11**

**-Helpless-**

'Just perfect.' Paine growled under her breath as the rain started to get worse and worse by the minute. The wind blew hard, making her almost sweep off of the road. Her both hands now tightly rapped around the ropes of her back and sword. Her eyes were squinted, and her head was facing the ground, trying to block the rain out.

_What am I going to do now! The storm is getting worse and the travel agency is still far away! _

Paine stopped walking, standing against one of the lightening towers. She shielded her eyes with one of her hands and looked around for something that could serve as shelter. She spotted the cave that the fiend made during their Gullwing days, right after Yuna's concert. She sighed happily and ran towards it, hoping that the fiends that were once there, wouldn't be there anymore. Or at least, not so many. She could stand her ground, but not against a large amount of fiends. Last time she was there, she didn't travel alone.

She decided to sit right at the exit/entrance of the cave, shielded behind a large rock, so the rain couldn't get to her.

Paine placed her bag and sword within reach, and she placed her head back against the cold stone wall behind her. Her legs were stretched out on the ground. She placed both her hands on her stomach and sighed deeply.

_Oh Baralai…I wish you were here._

A single tear made its way down her cheek.

---

By that time, Gippal, Yuna and Baralai had reached the travel agency, right before the storm got really bad.

Gippal and Yuna were sitting at the table on the right side of the agency, while Baralai was yelling at the receptionist.

'What do you mean we can't go any further! Someone's still out there!' His voice sounded more desperate then angry. Although his face told otherwise.

The woman behind the counter smiled sadly. 'I'm sorry Sir, but I can't let you out in this weather. A search group is already out there, looking for stranded travellers. I'm sure that whoever is out there, will be found by our search group.'

Baralai shook his head. 'No, that's not enough!'

The woman bit her lip and looked around helplessly, her brown eyes scanning the room, landing on Yuna and Gippal. She gave them a pleading look.

Gippal noticed this and stood up, placing a reassuring hand on Baralai's shoulder. 'Let it go Lai. I'm sure Paine has found a shelter of some sort, she'll be fine.'

Baralai shook of his hand and backed away. 'No she won't, haven't you seen how bad the storm is getting?' He pointed towards the window, raindrops were blurring the view outside.

'Yes I know. But there's nothing we can do. We'll have to trust the search party.'

Baralai swallowed hard and buried his face in hand.

'Sir?' The receptionist looked at the young praetor with caution.

Baralai looked up and glared at her. 'Do you have any idea who I am?'

The woman swallowed and nodded softly, barely noticeable.

'Do you!'

She backed up a little. 'Y-yes Sir.' She managed to stutter out.

Yuna got up from the chair and walked over to the two men. 'Baralai, don't go there.'

Baralai shot her a cold glare and turned back to the lady behind the counter. 'Then why are you disobeying me! I need to go outside NOW!'

The woman started to whimper, not knowing how to handle this. She couldn't just say no to the praetor of New Yevon, right? She was a follower of New Yevon herself.

'Baralai!' Yuna yelled out. Startling the Faction leader. He looked at her, his eye wide and eyebrows raised. It also got Baralai's attention and he faced her with an angry look.

Yuna took a breath and slowly exhaled. 'Look Baralai, we'll just have to wait until the storm ends. Tidus and Rikku could be with her as well, they went after her remember? So don't worry, everything will be just fine.' Yuna's voice was calm and reassuring. She had placed both her hands on each one of his shoulders and studied his face while she spoke. Gippal had already told her about Rikku and Tidus and everything else that was going on, so she was well informed.

Baralai looked from Yuna to Gippal, then back to Yuna. He sighed shakily and backed away towards a chair. He sat down promptly, and held his head in his hands, elbows leaning on his knees. 'How can I just sit here…and do nothing…while the woman I love is out there somewhere, in this storm…carrying our baby?' He asked, voice but a mere whisper.

Yuna looked at Gippal and he looked back at her, both with sadness. Gippal walked to his best friend and placed a hand on his back, kneeling down beside him. 'It's going to be alright Lai.'

Yuna smiled slightly and took a seat next to the praetor. 'Yes…you'll see…'

---

Tidus looked around when they were at Guadosolam. _Not much has changed. _He walked towards the square, where the musicians were playing a soothing tune. He looked from them back to Rikku, his eyes confused. 'Hey Riks…these guys are new, aren't they?'

Rikku shook her head and grinned. 'Tidie Tidie, how long have you been back? They've been here even before the whole destruction of Vegnagun thingie!' She said, raising her hands up in the air.

He smirked sheepishly and scratched his cheek. 'Ghehe…'

Rikku shook her head, smiling. She folded her hands behind her head and walked over to the chateau. 'Come on cemmo.'

When they came to the doors, Rikku made Tidus knock.

Leblanc herself opened the door and stared at the two of them bemused. 'Well well, first Paine and now Rikku. Is Yuna coming later?' She said with raised eyebrows.

Rikku jumped up at the name of Paine. 'Oh! So Paine is here?' She asked hopeful.

Leblanc blinked at the bouncy girl and shook her head. 'No, she was here though. She left an hour ago.'

Rikku looked down at her feet in disappointment. 'Oh…'

'Do you have any idea where she was going?' Tidus asked her.

Leblanc looked at him, narrowing one eye. 'No…I don't…she just spent the night here. Why are so concerned about her?' She asked, Leblanc was always up for some good gossip, and the well being of the praetors girlfriend was 'good' gossip.

'Nothing, she owes us gill.' He said plainly and dragged Rikku away from the door. 'Thanks by the way!'

He shook Rikku by the shoulders, making her look up. 'Come on, let's go ask around.' Rikku nodded excitingly, liking the idea and jumped over to the first person.

After they questioned a few people, they came back together.

'She's at the Thunder Plains.' They said both at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled amused.

'Well, let's go!' Rikku exclaimed and she started to bounce over to the hallway that led them to the Thunder Plains, if not for Tidus who grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

'Whoa, hold your chocobo's Riks.'

She looked at him confused and titled her head to the side. 'What's up?'

Tidus sighed and scratched his neck. 'Well…this old man told me that he saw her going to the Plains, but…'

Rikku narrowed her eyes. 'But…what?'

'But there's a storm going on there right now…a heavy one.'

Rikku's eyes widened with worry. She swallowed hard and glanced towards the way to the Plains. _Paine couldn't have made it to the agency in time_. 'But then…we have to go Tidus!' She released her hand from his grip and wanted to sprint away, but Tidus grabbed hold of her arm this time.

'Rikku!' He pulled her in a hug, so that she couldn't run away again, that'swhen she started to cry on his shoulder. He rubbed her back with his right hand, while his left arm was rapped around her waist.

'But what if…what if something…happens to her!' She said between sobs.

'We'll just have to wait Rikku…We'll just have to wait…'

* * *

__

So now what? Paine is stuck in the storm, no one can reach her...except maybe for the search party...will they find her? Read it in the next chapter of 'Hidden Truth' -dramatic music plays in the background-

Ghihi, sounds just like the end of a tv-show...or so I think :P.

Read and Review everyone, -pleeeaasse puppy dog eyes-


	12. Lightning and thunder

**A/N: **_Is it just me, or are my chapters getting shorter with every update Oo . I'm so sorry about that, and I'll promiss that the next chapter will be longer then any chapter in this story! _

_But okay, let's go on with the story, shall we?_

**

* * *

****Chapter 12**

**-Lightning and thunder-**

_This waiting…it…it sucks. Sorry…I just want you to know that I'm sorry I never noticed. I knew something was wrong, I could sense it, but I…_

Baralai hit is fist on the desk he was sitting at. He flinched as the pain ran trough his arm. He pulled away his fist and held it to his chest.

They had rented rooms for the night.

Then locked Baralai up in his room, so that he wont try anything stupid, as Gippal called it.

He sighed as he turned towards the door.

_Don't they understand how I feel?_

He bit his lip and turned his gaze to the ceiling above. But soon his gaze moved towards the window. Raindrops were still falling down hard. Sometimes the sky lit up by lightening, followed by loud thunder.

_She's out there somewhere…while I'm here in a cosy room…_

He rubbed his face with his hands, sighing in frustration.

_This is not right…I should be out there too…shouldn't I?_

Baralai stood up and paced the room, back and forth, back and forth.

_Yes I should be._

He stood still when he was facing the door again.

_I should be…_

He nodded, feeling determined. He walked over to the door and tried to open it, but as he had feared, it was locked.

When Gippal told him he was going to lock him in, he thought he was just kidding, but apparently…he wasn't.

He cursed softly while he ran a hand trough his messy hair.

_What now…_

He glanced around in the room, his eyes stopping at the window. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he walked over.

_He couldn't have locked the windows…could he?_

He bit his lip before he tried to push it open. And it did open.

His eyes lit up as he felt the strong wind hitting his face, and a few raindrops with it. He was about to climb trough when he remembered the last time he ran away like this…he forgot to bring a weapon. He walked back to the desk he was sitting at before, and grabbed the gun he got from Gippal, sticking it between his belt.

He looked back at the door one last time before he climbed trough the window and jumped down, his feet splashing in a puddle that formed under his window.

He cursed again, looking down and noticed that both his shoes were completely soaked, as were his pants, at least up to his knees. He shrugged it off, figuring he would get wet in this weather anyway and turned around to close the window behind him.

As he took his first step into the stormy Thunder Plains he could only hope that Paine was somewhere safe and sound, waiting for him.

---

Yuna sighed as she sat down in one of the chairs at the table near the entrance of the travel agency. Clenched in her hands she held a mug with coffee in it. She sipped as she watched the dreadful scenery outside. _Why didn't you just listen. _

She almost jumped out of her skin when another lightening bolt followed by thunder, lit up the darkish sky.

Someone chuckled behind her, making her turn around.

It was Gippal.

'Being scared of thunder runs in the family I see.' He gave her a smirk before he seated himself next to her.

Yuna smiled slightly and placed her hands with the mug on her lap. 'I'm not scared of thunder, I was just…lost in thought.' She said, casting her eyes down.

His smirk left his lips, his brows frowned a bit of worry. 'Yeah…'

Yuna bit on the inside of her cheek. 'You know…Paine was doing just fine before all of this.'

The Faction leader looked up, casting a glance towards Yuna. 'I know.' He said, staring outside the window, just like Yuna did a few minutes ago.

They were silent for a while, both thinking of a certain crimson eyed friend.

'Is Baralai alright?' Yuna asked suddenly.

Gippal nodded. 'I think so. He has calmed down a little.' He chuckled again. 'I locked him up in his room, so he wouldn't try anything funny.'

Yuna's eyes widened slightly. 'What? I thought you were kidding?' She placed her mug in the table and turned to him fully.

'Yeah, well…' He scratched the back of his neck and smirked. 'You never know, with Baralai.'

The ex-high summoner frowned. 'I think Baralai is a very responsible man. He can think for himself, he knows what's best and what's not.'

Gippal laughed at that and stood up again. 'Yeah well, he can be pretty stubborn about things too.'

Yuna watched him as he stood. He smirked at her, then bowed. 'Well, I'm going to retreat to my room, if you don't mind?' His voice sounded a bit pompous.

She shook her head and smiled. 'Go ahead.' She said as he started to walk off. 'Oh! And don't forget to check on our prisoner.' She yelled after him, earning a few glares of the people that were also in that room. Gippal chuckled and proceeded down the hall, heading towards Baralai's room.

---

Paine hid behind the large rock as yet another strong gust of wind blew into the cave, taking a good amount of raindrops with it. She sat there like that for a while, he knees pulled up against here chest, arms rapped around them tightly.

_What am I going to do…_

She coughed and then realized she could easily catch a cold dressed like this. So she grabbed her bag and pulled out an over sized sweater, quickly pulling it over her head. She sniffled, whipping her nose on the long sleeves that buried her hands.

Suddenly her head shot up and she glanced from behind the rock towards the exit.

_What was that? It sounded like…someone's out there!_

She jumped up from her hiding place and moved towards the exit, squinting her eyes as the raindrops hit her face. She looked trough the darkness, searching for someone or something that could've been the source of what she just heard.

She listened closely, trying to block the thunder out that occasionally roared trough the sky.

'…Is someone out there…'

_There it is again! _Paines heart started to beat faster. Although the voices were barely heard, due to the roaring thunder and the hard wind, she could definitely tell that there were people out there. People that were looking…looking for her.

'…Anyone out there…'

'…Hello?…'

The voices grew stronger. That meant that they were coming closer. Paine couldn't help but smile out of happiness and relief. Soon they would find her and she'd be all safe and sound at the travel agency for the rest of the night. Then the next day, she'll get up early and leave for Bevelle and if she'd walk fast enough, she'd be there by nightfall.

She was about to do a little dance, similar to Rikku's dancing when she heard something growl behind her. She froze on the spot, breath caught in her throat.

_Oh no…_

* * *

_Yikes, Paine's in trouble! Again! Hopefully the search team will be there in time... Find out what happens in the next chapter :)_

_Read and review everyone, please!_


	13. Shocked

**A/N:**_I'm back! And so is my compter. I'm so sorry it took me so long, but there have been some complications. If you read my profile, you'll understand._

_So here it is, chapter 13...or...I think it's chapter 13...I don't remember Oo. There are 2 more chapters coming, if I'm guessing correctly. Well, I'll leave you all to it then._

------------------------------------

Gippal yawned as he walked up to Baralai's room. When he got at the door he took out the key he kept in his pocket.

After opening the door with ease he stepped into the room. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned again, eyes closed.

'Hey Lai, I'm going to be…' He fell silent when he opened his eyes and noticed that the room was empty. He blinked and looked around again, just to make sure, but the room was and stayed empty. A slight feeling of panic rushed trough him and he swallowed. 'Baralai?' He tried again, taking a few more steps further into the room. He noticed that the bathroom door was open and decided to take a look in there. But, as he had feared, it was also empty.

'No…argh! I knew I should've locked the windows. I knew it!' He sprinted out of the room towards the sitting area up front where he had left Yuna.

Yuna was still there sipping from her mug occasionally. She looked up in surprise when she saw Gippal coming down the hall.

'And you said he is a responsible guy…right?' Gippal said when he reached the table. He looked at her sarcastically, but there was also a hint of worry in his eye.

Yuna frowned, not really getting it. 'What do you mean?' She asked a little hesitant. She wasn't sure what was going on but she had a bad feeling and when Yuna's bad feeling was usually right, so something was up.

Gippal ran a hand trough his hair and sighed. 'He's gone…'

She gasped and just when Yuna was about to react on what he just said the front door flew open and the search team came in carrying someone on a stretcher.

---

After walking trough the rain aimlessly shouting out Paine's name, Baralai had found himself some sort of shelter. After the destruction of Vegnagun people had build more places to shelter under if there would ever be a storm and travellers couldn't get to the travel agency in time. He quickly looked around him to see if Paine was there, but she wasn't.

He sighed heavily and fell forward on his knees and hands. He looked tired.

_Where is she. How could she do this. Why didn't she tell me…I would've…I…I would've stayed…_

Lightening flashed trough the sky, followed by a loud thunder that never seemed to stop.

He just sat there for a while not knowing what to do.

_Paine…_

_---_

At Guadolosam

Nooj was lying on the bed in Leblanc's chateau watching the sphere (**A/N: **_Television :P) _He zapped between the channels until he landed on the news report.

Shelinda was standing outside the conference room in the temple of Bevelle.

'_This is Shelinda with the 8 O'Clock news. I'm standing here outside the conference room of Bevelle where there should be a meeting held by now, but much to the annoyance of the newly formed group, named 'New Spira', no one showed up! I have here beside me, one of the priests that recently joined this new group. Sir, would you mind answering a few questions?'_

A Priest came into few, looking quite angry and annoyed.

'_No I don't mind.' _His voice sounded gruff.

'_Is it true that the Praetor of New Yevon, the leader of the Machine Faction, the High summoner and the leader of the Youth League, all disappeared in one day?'_

'_I don't think they disappeared. I think they're trying to annoy is by ignoring our wishes. But that will not work! We 'will' win this. We 'will' get what we want!'_

Shelinda nods and turns back tot the camera. _'Well there you have it. Are all the leaders running away from the meeting? We'll find out! It appears that Praetor baralai, Faction Leader Gippal, and High summoner Yuna, were all seen running out of their hotel. My Colleague is standing in that same lobby right now with a few witnesses. Hello Issaru?' _

Shelinda said into a communicator. The image of Shelinda at the temple was replaced by the immage of ex-summoner Issaru standing in a lobby of a hotel.

'_Yes Shelinda, this is truly an extraordinary case. You see, I just questioned a few people and they were all talking about a baby.'_

'_A Baby?' _Shelinda's over shocked voice was heard over the communicator.

'_Yes. I have with me, a man who overheard a conversation between the High summoner and the Machine Faction leader.' _

A young man in a concierge outfit came into few, looking extremely nervous.

'_You said you heard something about a baby, is that right?'_

He man nodded. '_Ye…yes that's r…right. T they were standing right there and…they we…were talking a…about praetor Baralai, he…ran out or something because he didn't want to be in meetings anymore.'_

Issaru nodded. '_I see, what else did you manage to hear?'_

The man's eyes went wide and he looked at Issaru. '_Nonono! It's not like I was eavesdropping, I just…I overheard…you know? No eavesdropping, nono! I would never do such a thing!'_

Issaru raised a brow. _'Right…what else did you hear?'_

'_W…well, Gip…I mean the Faction Leader he decided to go outside because a lot of people were listening. Then after a while, Lady Yuna came back in but ran out again and she didn't came back.'_

'_Aha…interesting. Back to the baby thing, did you notice anything strange at Lady Yuna?'_

'_Ye…yes! I think she was talking about herself. And Faction leader Gippal seemed very shocked.'_

'_Aha…Now outside, we have a witness too, saying that she heard the Machine Faction leader shout something towards Lady Yuna.'_

Issaru walked out of the front door, camera following. An old woman stood outside near a bench, she waved at the camera.

'_Ah, there she is right now. Excuse me ma'am, but you overheard Faction Leader Gippal shout something, is that right?'_

'_Yes I did.'_

'_Now what was he shouting?' _

The lady looked directly into the camera. '_He shouted that he wont be back and uhm…that uhm…that the 'New Spira' people suck and…and then Lady Yuna said that she thought that too and uhm…and they left.'_

'_Well there you have it people.'_

Nooj turned off the sphere. 'Idiots.' He mumbled.

Leblanc walked in and went straight for her make-up table. 'Sweetie, why did you leave Bevelle again?' Leblanc turned around, a powder box in her hands.

Nooj stood up and walked towards the door. 'Because they're idiots.'

---

'Excuse me, Lady Rikku?' An old man stood before Rikku and Tidus, who were sitting on a bench near the inn. The man was holding a commsphere and held it out before her.

Rikku turned her attention from the ground towards the man. 'Yes?' She asked.

The man held the commsphere out a little further. 'You have a call on the commpshere Lady.' He bowed slightly.

Rikku looked surprised, and took the commsphere. 'Thank you.' She said in a kind voice and smiled slightly. The old man bowed again and left the two alone with the commsphere.

'They call you Lady huh?' Tidus said with a smug smirk on his face.

Rikku giggled slightly. She wasn't really in the mood for jokes, but at least Tidus tried to lighten up the tension around them. So the least she could do was giggle at his comments.

'Yep, and I'm proud of it.' She forced herself to grin. 'Don't they call you 'Sir Tidus'?'

Tidus chuckled. 'Yeah…they do. It makes me feel so old.' He stretched and yawned loudly.

It was quiet between them for a while. Rikku just stared down at her lap.

Tidus was concentrating on the blinking button on the commsphere.

'Who do you think is calling?' He asked after a while.

Rikku shrugged. 'Don't know…Let's find out!' She pushed the button and the sphere flashed a bright colour of blue. After it faded they both looked up in surprise to see a tired looking Yuna on the other side.

'Yunie!'

'Yuna!'

They exclaimed both at the same time.

Yuna smiled weakly at them before her face fell into a sad and tired expression.

She turned to Rikku immediately. 'Rikku…' Her voice was sounded almost as a whisper, she hesitated for a few seconds.

Rikku frowned at her cousin. 'What is it, Yuna?'

Tidus head shot towards Rikku. She used her normal name, something was up.

Yuna swallowed, looking down at something. When she looked up, Rikku could see tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

'Yu…'

'Rikku, It's Paine…She…They…they found her Rikku!'

------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: **_I suppose there are a lot of flaws in it, because I typed this in a hurry. I wrote this in a short time, since I hadn't wrote anything before my compter got sick (Virus). Anyway...I still hope you all enjoyed it. I'll read it over when I have time and try to locate all the flaws._

_Untill then,_

_Bye!_


	14. A bit of hope

**A****/N: **_I'm back! Yay! And with an update! I promised a couple of readers I would update on Sunday, but...I thought that I was getting my computer back on Saturday, but that was not the case. I got it a day later. And I didn't have much time to write yesterday, so I wrote this today. Just finished...and now I'm in a hurry, so I haven't spell checked it myself. And as I recall I haven't spell checked the previous chapter either...but I will when I have time._

_First, enjoy this new chapter. I have no idea how many chapters are coming...I've been out for a while and got some new idea's, some perhaps...there will be more chapters then I had planned..._

_But let's get on with the story!_

_**----**_

_Where am I...and why is everything black. Wait…I'm not dead am I? I can't be…right? And…the baby? Is the baby alright? What kind of mom would I be if…if…wait…what am I saying…I… What happened…? A fiend…? Yes…it…it attacked me. My sword…it was too far away, I couldn't reach it. It hit me. A scratch and then …I got weaker…People were…they were calling for someone…Yes I remember. I screamed, but the wind drew it away. The people didn't hear me, they didn't…And I…Where am I now then? Still in the cave? Or…the farplane? But then…there would be flowers…flowers everywhere…right? And…I can't be dead…I don't…want to be dead. What about the others…will they miss me…_

_Yuna, she was so understanding. She called me everyday to see if I was fine, if I told Baralai yet. She's truly my best friend, someone I can trust and rely on with all my heart. I'll miss our little talks. _

'Doctor! How is she?'

_Rikku, always the happy one, always cheerful. Whatever mood I was in she could always put a smile on my face…of course I wouldn't let them see that smile…She always gave me this feeling that I had a friend waiting, no matter how long I hadn't seen her or talked to her. She would be there. _

'Will she be okay?'

_Gippal, we don't know each other well but we went trough a lot together. He really is someone you can trust, even though he can be a little cocky sometimes. _

'What's wrong with her! What happened?'

_Nooj, not a very talkative person, and not someone to show his emotions. Someone like me really…so we always got along just fine. I'll miss his sarcastic remarks. _

'You knew this? How could you let this happen!'

_Tidus, I don't know him very well but when I see how Yuna looks at him, it makes me very happy. I wish I could've gotten to know him a little better._

'Don't you take it out on her!'

'Noojie, what's going on?'

_And…Baralai…Fayth I'll miss him. And how I love him…Or…loved…I should've told him that more…every day…I love you. _

…

--

After Paine was brought in they placed her in one of the empty rooms way in the back where it was quiet and peaceful. They called for a doctor and he was there within an hour. Yuna had already preformed some white magic on Paine to cure most of her scratches and bruises but some of them where too deep or too serious to heal with just white magic. Of course white magic is an important part of the healthcare in Spira, but not everything can be healed or cured with just white magic.

When the doctor arrived he went straight to Paine's room. Everyone was already there to support her if she were to wake up, but she didn't.

Now almost an half an hour had passed since the doctor arrived and everyone was waiting patiently for him to give them a diagnosis.

The doctor stood up and faced the group of people who were waiting for him to finish. He looked at them with mixed emotions. He sighed before he began speaking.

'She's stable for now. I gave her some medicine and her wounds are bandaged. The fiend poisoned her, but Lady Yuna preformed some excellent white magic so now there's no trace of poison left in her body, that's good, especially for the baby.'

'Will the baby be alright?' Rikku sat on the edge of her seat and looked at him with hopeful eyes.

'Well…' The doctor scratched his head and looked from Paine back to Rikku. 'The baby will live, but there will be some complications. You see, when your body gets poisoned, there will be traces of it in your blood as well, the baby might have some poison left in it's blood flow.'

'But I preformed an Esuna.' Yuna said, as she frowned.

The doctor nodded. 'Yes you did, but you preformed Esuna on Paine, not on the baby. It's hard to perform white magic on a foetus. When you perform white magic you concentrate on one person only, while placing your hands on the body itself. You can't touch a foetus, for it is still in the womb.'

It grew silent again.

'So uhm…' Gippal ran a hand trough his hair. 'Now what do we do?'

The doctor sighed again. 'All we can do is wait.' He grabbed his bag and headed for the door. 'I'll come back to check up on her in an hour or so. In the meantime, I think it would be better if one person stayed with her in case she wakes up.'

Everyone just nodded and the doctor left.

'How could this have happened?' Yuna mumbled unbelievingly. 'She was always so strong and in depended.'

'Is…' Rikku corrected her.

Yuna looked up in terror. 'I…I didn't…'

'It's alright Yuna.' Tidus said as he hugged her. 'We know you didn't mean it like that.' She swallowed before looking down at the floor.

Nooj stood up and gave Gippal a nod. 'You stay here first, the girls need to rest.' His gaze went from Gippal to Leblanc. 'I'm heading for the restaurant.' With that he walked out the door followed by Leblanc who linked her arm with his immediately when she caught up with him.

'Well I guess I'm stuck here.' Gippal joked, but when he got a glare from the two cousins his small smile faded. 'Look, you heard what Nooj said, you two should get some rest.' He looked at Tidus and nodded. 'You too, man.'

'Nah, I'm fine.' The other blonde said. 'But Yuna, Rikku, you should.'

'Okay.' Yuna said. Tidus helped her stand up and guided her out of the room, closely followed by Rikku.

Gippal sighed and sat down in the chair Rikku was in. He looked at Paines pale face and his expression saddened. 'We're all waiting here for you Paine.'

--

Sitting in the lounge room of the travel agency where the two cousins. They ignored Nooj's order to get some rest, since both of them couldn't sleep. Now they were sitting next to each other on a couch. On one side of the couch was Yuna leaning forward with her elbows leaning on her knees, her head buried in her hands. Every now and then a sob was heard from her side.

On the other side there was Rikku. Her in a mess, eyes all tired and sad. Due to the emergency and the dying storm they were able to get to the agency ASAP when the heard about Paine being found but who needed medical attention immediately. The doctor most nearby lived in Guadosolam and he had no problem with going trough a storm to get to a patient. And since the storm was already dying they were able to get a hover to drive them there, an armoured hover that is. After much pleading and begging Tidus and Rikku were able to tag along and when Nooj found out he wanted to come with as well. And where ever Nooj goes...Leblanc goes too. She doesn't want him to disappear again.

Rikku was leaning backwards with her head against the backseat looking up at the ceiling.

Both of them looked up when two pair of slow paced footsteps were heard. Their eyes questioning at the two men standing before them, their partners, wanting to know two answers to the two questions they had.

'Is she…'

'No'

'Have they…

'No'

'Whose with…'

'Doctor Epran.'

The two women sighed. Silence filled the lounge as none of them knew what to say. Gippal grew uncomfortable and scratched the back of his neck. In a sideway glance he looked at Rikku, his expression saddened. _She looks terrible… _He swallowed before he paced towards his girlfriend and kneeled before her looking her straight in the eyes. 'We'll find him.'

Rikku frowned slightly, her hands resting on her legs to support her upper body as she leaned forward. 'What are you talking about…we?'

Yuna stood up and looked at Tidus, she was about to open her mouth when he put a finger to her lips. 'We're going after him.'

She looked away towards the ground and said nothing. You could see that she didn't agree with the idea, but she wasn't going to argue about it, she wasn't going to try and make them stop, she didn't have any energy left for it. All she wanted was to have her friend back again.

'Yuna…We'll bring him back.'

She looked up with teary eyes and nodded slightly.

Tidus cupped her face. 'I love you.' He whipped a single tear away with his thumb, then kissed her softly.

'I love you too.' She mumbled with a sniff.

'Rikku…' Gippal started as he got no reaction out of her.

Rikku closed her eyes, biting on her lower lip.

'We have to, Riks. For Paine.' Gippal placed his hands on hers, making her open her eyes. 'We have to…' He said seriously, trying to make her understand.

Rikku looked down and then up again. 'E ghuf' ((I know))

He smiled at her lovingly and kissed her gently on the lips before hugging her tightly. Rikku gasped at the sudden contact but relaxed in his embrace.

'Let's go.' Tidus said. Gippal stood up. They said their goodbye's and left the lounge. Leaving Rikku and Yuna with a little bit of hope.

**----**

**_Read and review please:D_**


	15. Tears and smiles

**A/N: **_Okay...I'm not going to make any promises of when my next update will be. That's since I can't seem to keep my promises and I'm really sorry. I'm just so busy with school and intern, plus a lot of other stuff, and my stories...I'll try to update as soon as possible but the next updates wont be within a week...maybe not even within two...I'll try to update as soon as I can, so please stick with me._

_In the meantime, enjoy the...I don't know how many'th chapter (I know many'th isn't a word, I just made that up :P)_

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**Tears and smiles**

'You know…' Tidus started, while Gippal and he were walking down the Thunder Plains road. 'This searching thing would be way easier if the FRICKING rain would stop!' He sighed out of frustration when he finished his sentence. The rain still poured down on their heads. The sky wasn't as dark as it was a few hours ago though, the storm was slowly calming down.

Gippal just shook his head at him.

'What?' Tidus asked, raising a brow.

'Just be glad the wind died, alright?'

They continued to walk in silence for a while, their boots sounded heavy on the wet ground. A few fiends crossed their road, but they sliced them up easily with them being a perfectly good gunner and a strong worrier and all.

'How do we know where he is?' Tidus asked after a good 10 minutes of silence.

Gippal stopped as his question and narrowed his eye a bit. 'Well…you know what the search team said about where they found Paine?'

Tidus nodded. 'That cave right?'

'Yeah, we should go there, maybe he went inside cause he thought that Paine would look for shelter there.'

'She did.'

Gippal started walking again. 'Yes she did.'

---

An hour had passed and it was Yuna's turn to sit by Paine's side. Rikku was with her at first but she went to bed a few minutes ago. She suggested the same for her cousin, but Yuna refused. She wanted to stay by Paine's side in case she would wake up. It would be a whole lot nicer if someone who was close to her would be there if she did, instead of the doctor. Nooj and Leblanc had gone to their hotel room and now that Gippal and Tidus were gone and Rikku asleep, Yuna was the only one left.

She didn't mind, she couldn't sleep anyway.

So she sat there, a chair pulled up to the bed so she would be as near as possible. A mug with some coffee in her hands and a warm blanket rapped around her body.

She stared at Paine's pale face the whole time, feeling guilty and sad.

'This is all my fault.' She thought with a sigh. 'If I hadn't called her and pushed her into telling Baralai so much, she wouldn't have gone and done something like this, she would've waited.' A hot tear made it's way down her cheek. When a sob escaped her she bit her lip to stop herself from crying. It wouldn't be good for Paine to wake up and see a crying Yuna by her side. Or at least that's what she thought.

So to keep her from crying she looked at the ground instead of at Paine, trying to think of something happier. But somehow everything just made her sad. Even the thought of Tidus made her want to cry, since he was out in the Thunder Plains, out in that nasty storm. What if something happened to him?

Suddenly the door creaked and she looked up only to see her cousin creeping back into the room.

'What's wrong?' She asked in a dimmed voice.

Rikku closed the door as silent as possible and then grabbed a chair to place it next to Yuna's. 'I couldn't sleep, everything is just all messed up and I can't sleep when there are things to worry about.'

Yuna nodded staring back at the ground. 'I feel the same.'

Rikku sat in her chair with her legs underneath her. When she made herself comfortable she stared at Paine, just like Yuna did a moment ago. 'She looks so different now that she's…sick…doesn't she?'

The brunette placed her empty mug on the floor and crossed her arms when she sat back up. 'Yeah…' She sighed. 'I always thought that nothing could hurt her. Even when we were still with the Gullwings, and she got hurt by this fiend, she wouldn't even flinch. She's so strong…I'm certain that she'll pull trough this.'

Rikku smiled at her cousins words. Somehow Yuna always knew just what to say at the right moments. That's what she liked about her cousin…among other things. 'Yes she will. Her and the baby. He or she has her blood, so that's got to count for something, right?'

Yuna nodded slightly, a soft smile across her lips.

They were silent then, both content in each others company and both looking at their friend with a warm smile.

Suddenly someone moaned.

Both Yuna and Rikku looked at each other with questioning eyes.

'Did you…'

'No I…'

'Then who did…'

Their eyes widened at the same time and they jumped up from their chair when they saw that Paine's eyes were fluttering.

The cousins were at her bed immediately, holding her hand.

Paine's eyes slowly opened and she looked around somewhat tired, even though she had slept for a while. Her eyes fully opened and she scanned the room, red orbs falling on her two best friends next to her, her two best friends who were crying with smiles on their faces.

She frowned slightly at them, her free hand going for her forehead.

'Wha…'

The two collapsed (as carefully as they could) on top of their friend, hugging her tightly (not too tight).

---

After the doctor examined Paine and noted that her condition has improved extraordinary, he had left the girls behind to examine a test he took on the baby, leaving the three friends alone.

Nooj and Leblanc had left after hearing the good news and were now in the lounge room not too far away from Paine's room.

'So uhm…how are you feeling?' Rikku started after a while of silence between them. She felt a little bit uncomfortable and whenever she feels like that she either smiles nervously or talks. In this case it was the second one. She was sitting on the ground, looking up at were Paine and Yuna sat.

Paine fumbled with the end of her blanket that she had rapped around herself. She sat on her bed, a pillow on her lap. 'Okay I guess…'

Yuna, who was on the bed next to Paine, smiled warmly at her. 'We're glad…that you're okay.' Her voice was soft.

Paine bit her lip. _This is all my fault. They shouldn't be worrying about me like this. I didn't want to make them worry. I just wanted to get to Baralai as fast as possible._

'I'm sorry.'

Paine looked up in shock and stared at Yuna, her eyes wide. 'W…what…?' She beamed.

A silent tear slid down the brunette's cheek. Her head was hanging low, eyes closed as though she was afraid to look up. 'I'm so sorry Paine. This is all because of me. I pushed you into telling Baralai, that's why you left…I'm so sorry.'

Paine was speechless, as was Rikku. They both had no words for this. Yuna misunderstood that silence for something entirely the opposite. She stood up from the bed. 'I'm sorry…I'll leave…' Tears were flowing freely now as she walked towards the door, ready to leave the room.

'Yuna!' Paine said still shocked. She jumped up unsteadily, almost falling back on the bed.

'Paine!' Rikku said, she grabbed her arm, already standing next to her friend, for support. 'Are you okay?'

Paine didn't listen to her, she needed to speak to Yuna. 'Yuna please…this is not your fault!'

Yuna stopped, her hand on the doorknob. But she didn't turn around.

'Yuna…' Paine swallowed and looked down at the floor. 'I should be the one to say sorry. It's not anyone's fault but mine.' She didn't look up as she spoke. Yuna had turned around now, biting her lip, she still wasn't very convinced, but she definatly didn't want Paine to feel guilty about what happened she only did what she thought was right. 'I didn't mean to make anyone worry. I am sorry, you shouldn't feel that way…it's not your fault. I made a decision on my own. I didn't do it because of something you said…or you.' She said to both Yuna and Rikku.

'But…I told you to tell him about the baby…I pushed you…I shouldn't have…I'm…'

'No! I don't want to hear it from you! This.is.not.your.fault. Okay?' Paine gave her a pleading look, begging her not to say that she was sorry, she didn't want her friends to feel guilty, if anyone should feel guilty is should be her.

Yuna turned her head away, staring out the window on her left. With her sleeve she removed the drying tears on her cheeks. When they were all gone she turned back and stared right into her friends ruby eyes. 'Okay.'

Paine smiled a real smile. That's how relieved she was. 'Thank you.' She mouthed.

Yuna hugged her then, Rikku following her example.

And no one noticed the lone tear that rolled down Paine's cheek. Not of sadness, but because she was happy.

_I love you guys._

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_Review please! (after reading it)_


	16. Into the darkness

**A/N: **_I should be doing homework right now but I couldn't put my mind to it..so I started writing and here is the result. Another chapter for this story :). I want to thank everyone for reviewing me! I'm trying on mailing everyone back who reviewed (this plan started when I updated the last chapter). So if you reviewed on that chapter but haven't received a 'Thank you' mail, I'm sorry and you can scowl at me if you want to. I think that it's more then right to mail a person back for a review. I've got to do something to earn them I guess..._

_Oh! And sorry I hadn't thought of the 'Thank you' mail before, since this story is already 16 chapters long ; I will mail everyone from now on, if I don't forget it that is :P._

* * *

There was an eerie atmosphere lingering in the cave where Paine had been sheltering, when Tidus and Gippal arrived. They both were on their guard when the entered. After taking a quick look around they found pieces of what looked like to have been a sweater lying scattered across the cold stone ground.

'Look.' Tidus pointed down at something that looked like a footprint. Gippal crouched down next to it moving his fingers along the visible lines.

'These are fresh. Must be Baralai's.'

Tidus, who was now crouched down as well, nodded and looked down the dark passageway that leaded into the cave. 'He's headed inside, probably thinking Paine is somewhere around here.'

Gippal stood up looking around once more, examining everything closely this time. 'There's nothing here besides the pieces of ripped clothing and the footprint.' He said scratching the back of his head while placing the other hand on his side.

The other blonde bit his lip as he stood up as well. 'We should head along then. If these footprints are fresh he must be somewhere near. If we hurry we can catch up with him before he's all the way at the back of this cave.'

The Al Bhed chuckled. 'Yeah…who knows what we'll find in there.' He gave a nod towards the unknown darkness. A shiver went down his spine, making him narrow his eyes. _There's something not right with this cave…_

Tidus looked at him, raising his eyebrows. 'Say…did you bring a flashlight by any chance?'

…

---

'You know…you two don't have to stay with me the whole time.' Paine said to her two friends who were still in her room after she woke up 3 hours ago. She studied both of their faces and noted that they looked tired and pale. 'When was the last time you got some rest, huh?' She raised her eyebrows at them.

Rikku shrugged and checked her watch. 'I dunno…' She looked like she was counting for a while, but then she shrugged again. 'I have no idea, Yunie?' She looked at her cousin expectantly.

'Well…' She started. 'To be honest…I don't know either…' Right after she spoke she yawned loudly. Her blonde cousin giggled.

Paine shook her head with a small smile on her face. 'Go to bed Yuna. I'll be alright on my own for a while. You too Rikku, get some rest.'

Yuna bit her lip and now it was her turn to look at Rikku with expectation, her eyes questionable.

Rikku looked at the ceiling for a second after she met Yuna's bi-colored eyes. 'I don't know...are you sure it's alright?'

Paine nodded slightly. 'The doctor said I was fine. Plus, I'm not going anywhere.'

Yuna narrowed her eyes at that. She didn't want to leave Paine alone even though she said she was alright. They did tell her about Baralai a few hours ago and she did seem a bit shaken up. She even shed a few tears which was quite a shock for the two cousins. But now it seems as if she was doing fine. Still she wasn't really sure, not with Paine. You can never tell what Paine is thinking or what she feels. You have to wait until she tells you, which is rarely. She was kind of shocked to get that kind of reaction out of her when she was about to ran trough the door when she told Paine she thought it was her fault that all of this happened. _I really did think it was my fault._ _Paine got so emotional. She never gets like that…Must be the hormones. _Yuna giggled.

The greyhaired worrier looked up from the blanket she was looking at. 'What?' She asked towards Yuna.

Yuna, who hadn't realized she actually giggled at her thoughts looked up with a puzzled look. 'What what?'

Paine narrowed her ruby eyes at her friend. 'You giggled…why?'

The brunette turned slightly pink. 'Well I…it's nothing.'

'Yuna…' Paine said in a warning tone.

Yuna laughed nervously and turned to Rikku for help. The Al Bhed just smiled. 'Come on Yunie, you can tell us.' She tilted her head slightly to the left.

Yuna glared at her before she looked back at Paine who leaned a bit forward staring directly at her.

She sighed and fell silent for a while trying to come up with something else to say. If she told Paine about the hormone thing, she wouldn't really like that and she didn't want to upset her. 'I uhm…Well it's just…you're smiling a lot more then ever and I think that's…cute.' She didn't entirely lie there. She did think that Paine was smiling a lot more and she liked that. Although there wasn't a lot to smile about, now with Baralai gone and all, but they've explained to Paine that Gippal and Tidus were looking for him, plus the storm was as good as over by now. Paine somehow seemed relieved after hearing that making all the worries that Yuna and Rikku had left go away. They were scared that when Paine would hear about the disappearing of Baralai, she would go after him. But she didn't. Maybe her little solo adventure had made her open her eyes about how dangerous it can be going out on her own in her condition.

Paine sat back, leaning against the cold wall behind her. 'I see…'

---

Their footsteps echoed trough the cave while Tidus and Gippal were searching for the leader of 'New Yevon'. They kept a watchful eye open for fiends while they proceeded further into the cave. Besides their own footsteps, the wind that was still blowing from outside and a few dripping sounds here and there, the cave was completely silent. It didn't exactly sooth their nerves, but it didn't stop them from going further either.

'You know…' Tidus started, grabbing the attention of the Machine Faction leader.

'Hmn?'

Tidus tilted his head slightly to the right while he gazed into the darkness. Both of them were holding a torch since none of the two were smart enough to bring a flashlight with them and the cave was pitch black. 'Yuna once told me that she, Riks and Paine had to defeat this big fiend that threatened the audience of a concert they were holding here in the Thunder Plains.'

Gippal shrugged as he followed the path before them. 'Yeah…so?' He didn't get the point.

'That fiend made a cave around here. I think this one is it.' Tidus said as he looked around as far as the torch's light reached.

The other blonde nodded slightly, remembering that Rikku had told him that once as well no too long ago actually. 'Yeah, Rikku said that it looked like a giant maze or whatever.'

Tidus paused and bit on the inside of his cheek. 'I wonder what made them say that? I haven't seen anything that looked like the beginning of a maze in here.'

'Me neither.' Gippal said, looking back over his shoulder right before running into a wall. 'Oof!' The Faction leader fell back on his but looking up wide eyed at the stony wall that was blocking their path.

Tidus ran by his side immediately crouching down next to him. 'Hey are you okay?' He asked examining him closely. There was a scratch on his forehead where he had hit the wall, but other then that, nothing serious.

'I'm fine.' Gippal growled under his breath and he got back to his feet rubbing his behind.

Tidus chuckled at the sight, earning himself a glare from the Al Bhed. He quickly swallowed another chuckle that was coming up and then grinned sheepishly at him. 'Cunno, it's just that you looked a lot like Rikku just now.'

Gippal raised his eyebrows and turned to the blitzer fully. 'Cunno? You know Al bhed?' He asked surprised, he never knew that Tidus could speak his language, not that he knew Tidus very well. But now that he thought about it, he could've learned it from Yuna, since she was half Al bhed.

Tidus scratched the back of his head. 'Just a little. I picked up a few things when I was a guardian during Yuna's pilgrimage. Rikku taught me some as well when she joined our group a little later.

Gippal nodded understanding. 'Ah I see.' He said smiling then turning back to the wall he just ran into.

Tidus went to stand beside him looking up. 'We can climb over. Look…' He pointed upwards, holding up his torch as well so that the light would spread higher. Gippal looked up and saw what Tidus meant. The wall seemed more like a giant staircase and if they worked together, they could get over the top. 'If you give me a hand I could reach the edge and climb up.' He blew out his torch so he could take it with him more easily. He wasn't going to get himself burned.

'Maybe you should throw it over.' Gippal said giving a nod towards the blown out torch Tidus was holding. 'It makes the climb more easily.'

Tidus looked from Gippal to his torch. 'Oh…right.' He took a step back and then threw it in the air, sending it flying all the way up over the edge of the 'stairs'. 'Well…that's that.'

Gippal left his torch on so that they still had some light, and put it in a crack in the stone wall. 'Okay.' He folded his hands and bended down slightly so that Tidus could step on it. 'Wait…' He said suddenly. 'How do we know Baralai went this way?'

Tidus shrugged and placed his foot on Gippals folded hands. 'Only one way to find out.'

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_Leave a review after reading please _


	17. Found you

**A/N: **_I finally have a free weekend! I was beginning to forget the meaning of the word 'Free' but luckily I got a day off yesterday and I don't have to work or babysit this weekend, YAY!_

_Anyways, as you you can all see, I started writing and made a whole new chapter! Only Gippal and Tidus are in it this time, sorry everyone, but I had to make this chapter sooner or later. _

_Oh and I have to warn everyone! This story is nearing it's end. But I'll try to make the next couple of chapters as long as possible._

_Well, enjoy :)_

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**Found you**

'Can you see anything yet?' Gippal yelled up to Tidus who was trying to climb over the top of another large 'staircase'. Only one foot was dangling over the edge, but that was as much as Gippal could see of his friend. It was way to dark to see anything further then that. He heard a couple of scratchy noises somewhere behind him and looked back grabbing for his rifle and on his guard for any fiends. So far they hadn't encountered any, which was pretty strange for a dark cave like the one they were in. Usually lot's of fiends liked to linger in caves like that, but this one seemed to be disserted. Although Paine did get attacked by one when she was looking shelter at the entrance of the cave, there was always a possibility that the fiend that had attacked her came from outside.

'I can't see anything without a torch.' Came Tidus voice, making Gippal turn his head to look back up again.

'Oh…right.' He mumbled, grabbing his torch from another crack in the wall holding it up so that Tidus could reach for it. A hand grabbed the torch and lifted it up. Now Tidus came fully into few, his cloths all dirty because of all the climbing up 'large staircases' they've been doing. Gippals clothes were dirty as well and even ripped at some places, but he didn't care. All he cared about was finding his friend and bringing him safely back to his other friend that was back at the Travelers agency being sick and hurt…and pregnant.

'Now can you see anything?' He asked somewhat annoyed after a moment of silence. Tidus was still looking around moving the torch this way and that.

'Good news.' Tidus yelled back down.

This caught Gippals attention. 'What?'

Tidus looked turned around and looked down at him with a slight grin. 'No more staircases.'

Gippal chuckled and pursed his lips. 'Well there's a relieve. Come on lift me up!' He held out his hands above his head waiting for Tidus to grab them.

'Hold on, I have to find somewhere to place this torch first.' He heard Tidus walking around and the light faded away a little. He squinted his eye to try and look trough the darkness that once again developed him. Then suddenly a hand grabbed his and then his other pulling him upwards.

After a bit of struggling to climb over the edge himself they both stood holding now two torches, the one that Tidus had blown out a while ago was burning again. They stared at the long path that laid before them and then at each other.

'Here we go.' Gippal said and they continued their search. This hallway was pretty much the same as the one they were in before Gippal had bumped into a wall.

'Hey Gippal?'

'Yeah?'

Tidus tilted his head, a thoughtful look across his face. 'I was thinking…what if our torches go out?'

Gippal sighed, he had been thinking about that himself. Neither of them were smart enough to bring a flashlight. They'd left the Travel agency a bit hastily after deciding that it was best to just go out and look for Baralai themselves instead of another search group. Baralai wouldn't have listened to the search group and go back to the agency with them. He'd be too suspicious and thinking that is was al a trick about Paine being back, to get him back safe and sound. So Gippal figured it was better if he went to look for him in person. Baralai would believe him, since the two of them were best friends and go way back. Plus, Gippal wouldn't kid around with something like that. This was serious.

'Let's just hope that doesn't happen, okay?'

Tidus nodded and let it slide. Hopefully Baralai had brought a flashlight of some sort whit him…if he even was in this cave to begin with!

After a while of walking, Tidus suddenly stopped. He tilted his head slightly to the left and narrowed his eyes. Gippal hadn't noticed that his friend had stopped, but as he moved on and noticed that the light became less he turned around seeing the blonde blitzer just stand there.

Gippal frowned and walked back stopping when he stood in front of him. 'What?'

Tidus placed a finger to his lips and shushed. 'Did you hear that?' He asked in a little more then a whisper.

Gippal frowned even more but stood still and listened closely. Nothing but silence.

Tidus shook his head softly but he didn't say anything. He was still waiting for a sound that he had heard a minute ago. _I heard something, I know I did! _

'_Clang'_

'Here! Did you hear that!' Tidus asked his eyes wide. The noise sounded far away and only if you listened very closely you could hear it echoing slightly trough the cave.

Gippal turned to where he thought that sound came from and nodded. 'Yes…what was it?'

'I don't know…it sounds like a piece of metal hitting something hard.' Tidus said he took a few steps further holding out his torch so that the light spread a little further, but nothing was there. 'It sounds far away too.'

Gippal bit on the inside of his cheek while he thought. 'Perhaps it's a fiend.' He thought out loud while he placed a hand on his rifle that was tied on his back.

Tidus thought it over but didn't think that it was a fiend. 'I don't know…sounded more like metal to me. And you should know, aren't you the Machine Faction leader?' he said humorous.

The Al bhed rolled his eyes and looked at him sideways. 'Yes I am, but I didn't…'

'_Clang'_

They stared trough the darkness and blinked.

'Definatly metal.' Gippal stated and he started walking to where he thought the sound came from, making a 'follow me' sign with his free arm, gesturing to Tidus.

'_Clang'_

The noises became a little louder and more rapidly as they made their way trough the cave. They speeded up their pace when more sounds occurred, sounds that sounded like footsteps and scratchy noises, even some growling.

They sped trough the cave now that they were almost certain of what kind of noises they were hearing.

Someone or something was fighting.

_Baralai. _Ran trough Gippals head and he headed out before Tidus.

They took a couple of turns and were now standing at the end of the path. Beneath them was nothing but darkness. Tidus looked down and gulped. Even when he held out his torch he couldn't see where the depth ends. He looked at Gippal who was already looking for a way to get to the other side. Suddenly they heard a cry and their heads shot up. It came from across the depths. The two men looked closely and Tidus thought that he saw something that looked like a tail whipping around but it was kind of shadowy so he wasn't sure.

The Al bhed swallowed and looked around hastily. 'Look! There's a ridge! If we jump, we could reach it.'

Tidus blinked and gave his friend a sideway glance. 'Could…?'

Gippal didn't hear it, or he pretended he didn't hear it. He took a few steps back before he ran towards the ledge and jumped.

'Gippal!' Tidus exclaimed shocked running towards the ledge as well following Gippals movement. Due to the torch he was holding, Tidus could see how he was doing. The Faction leader made it to the ridge and landed not that gracefully on his bottom.

'Gippal are you alright?'

He heard a few curses and watched as Gippal stood up, his eye squeezed and his face in a painful expression. 'Yes, yes I'm fine.' He mumbled under his breath.

Tidus let out a sigh of relieve. 'Okay, move aside, I'm gonna jump as well.' As Tidus took a few steps back and ran, Gippal stepped aside just when Tidus jumped. He landed with an 'Oof' when his torso hit the ridge and one leg on it while the other one was dangling over the edge. After Gippal pulled him back to his feet Tidus dusted of his clothes. 'Pff, you know…that was pretty scary.'

Gippal gave him a snort. 'If the girls can do it, so can we, now come on.'

There were two more of those ridges and after the last jump they made to the other side. While they dusted of their clothes and checked their arms and legs for any injuries, they turned around to see what was before them. Their mouths slowly parted and they looked shocked when they saw the scene before them.

An over sized dragon like fiend with what seemed to be a very bad temper was whipping it's tail at a silver haired man with a sword. The fiend had a very long tail with very pointy looking pins sticking out of it. Out of it's mouth came smoke indicating that it must be a fire type fiend.

'Baralai!' Gippal screamed when he saw the battle scene.

Tidus clapped his gloved hand on Gippals mouth. 'Shush! You want to bring him out of his concentration and let him get hit by that tail.' He said in a dimmed voice. Then he drew his sword (the brotherhood of course) and gave Gippal a sceptic look. 'Are you coming or what?'

Gippal looked at Tidus whose questioning eyes were looking at him. 'Well?'

The Al Bhed grabbed his rifle and smirked. 'What are we waiting for? Let's go!'

* * *

_I noticed that I have lost a great deal of readers and I'm sorry to see that :(. I know I'm not the best writer...okay I'm a crappy writer, there I said it! And I'll try to make up for my bad writing. _

_For the remaining readers, please review! _


	18. Together

**A/N: **_This is the longest chapter EVER made by me and I hope you all will enjoy it. But...because it's this large it will probably be full with grammar mistakes and flaws, stuff like that. I don't have time to read it trough today. I have to go in an hour. But it was ready and I thought I'd just update it since you've been waiting for some time now for the next chapter._

_There's only one more chapter after this...and maybe an epiloog but I'm not sure._

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Paine sat on her bed in the same position as she had been for the last few hours. A blanket was draped over her shoulders, even though she wasn't cold. She couldn't sleep, or read or do anything to keep her mind from wandering. There was a tray with her breakfast on it on a stand near her bed, but she hadn't even touched it yet. She just wasn't hungry. She couldn't stop thinking about Baralai and where he was at the moment, if he was alright. She couldn't stop thinking that all of this was her fault…since it was her fault after all. She had left without telling anyone were she was going, without any protection whatsoever (with exception of her sword), without good preparations, without logic thinking, and without thinking about the baby. The really didn't want to hurt anyone, especially not Baralai.

_The baby isn't even born yet and I'm already a bad mother. _

She sighed and looked down at her stomach, rubbing it gently with her fingers.

_I'm so sorry baby. I never meant to hurt anyone._

She folded both hands on her abdomen staring out trough the window at the white-greyish sky. The thunder plains was back to it's normal self and she was relieved to see so. Even a couple of sunbeams were coming trough the thick clouds just like when Yuna sang that song 'Real emotions', when they had first seen Lenne and the story behind the whole scary ghost thing that took over people's body, better known as Shuyin. The sky had a magical thing about it and Paine now wished more then ever that Baralai was there beside her to share the scenery with her.

She looked down at the ground, loneliness filling her heart and mind. Even if Paine didn't show it, she was kind of the romantic type. Not many people knew that, only Baralai, Yuna and to her sadly enough Rikku. About five months ago the blonde had accidentally caught her in their apartment lighting candles and putting on some very romantic songs. Paine tried to set up something for when Baralai would be back from work, she had even made a special dinner for the two of them. She hadn't counted on Rikku to come bouncing in. The blonde had stared at everything in disbelief but soon started laughing and said: _O my Yevon Paine! I never knew you had a soft side._ Then after more laughter she started dancing and singing: _Paine and Baralai sitting in a tree K I S S I N G first comes love then comes…_

Paine had hit her with one of the heavy pillows from the couch. After it made contact with Rikku's head she fell to the floor with a small thud. Paine remembered it with a smile on her face. She had escorted Rikku out of the building personally with her sword behind her back.

The blonde never came again without giving her a call on her commsphere first.

Paines eyes became heavier after a while of staring of into the distance. She hadn't slept all night but now she was finally starting to doze off when suddenly the door flew open and Rikku came barging in.

Paine growled her eyes wide open once again. She glared at Rikku who was bouncing up and down in front of her happily. Paine was about to reach for her pillow when Rikku opened her mouth.

'Paine! I'm so excited! Guess who just arrived!'

Paines hart skipped a beat. She leaned in closer giving Rikku a hopeful look. 'Who?' She asked.

Rikku didn't hear her. 'I'm so happy!' she said with a huge grin plastered on her face. 'Now everything can be back to normal again!' She danced around not noticing the annoyed look on Paines face. She still hadn't told her what was going on.

Paine bit on the insides of her cheek while her friend danced out of the room. She looked up and blinked at the door. 'Rikku!' She screamed after her but instead of Rikku someone else came walking trough. Someone she didn't expect but secretly hoped it would be that someone Rikku was so happy about. She was speechless when he walked over to her, speechless when he sat beside her on the bed and speechless when he grabbed for her hands and smiled warmly at her.

She just stared at his face for a long long time him doing the same, none of them saying anything. A band-aid covered a part of his right cheek and a few scratches were on his arms. His white T-shirt was ripped here and there and his pants were dirty and covered with sand, but other then that he looked just perfect.

'B…Baralai…' She could finally manage to bring out. But that was the only thing she said. As soon as his name was out he put his arms around her waist and back and pulled her in for a hug.

Paine swallowed trying to hold back a few tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. 'H-how…?' She mumbled on his shoulder but he just shook his head. He didn't want to say anything, afraid to ruin the moment. It seemed so long since he could just wrap his arms around her.

Feel her

Smell her

See her

He was so relieved that she was okay. Gippal and Tidus had told him everything when they were heading back towards the Travel Agency. He was so anxious to get back there that he had run ahead, leaving the two blondes far behind.

He held her more tightly, sighing relieved that she was okay.

'Baralai…I need to tell you something.' Paine said after a long moment of silence.

He didn't loosen his grip on her. He already knew what she was about to tell him, he already knew about her condition. He bit his lip, she had tried to tell him once before, but he hadn't listened. That was the day he left Djose to go to Bevelle. She tried to tell him then but he hadn't noticed.

_This is all my fault._

He figured it would be better for her to tell him. He wasn't going to tell her he already knew that she was pregnant. She wanted to tell him herself, he could see it in her eyes, he knew. When he overheard Gippal's conversation over the commsphere he became so angry. Why hadn't she told him, why didn't she trust him. After he ran away and after Gippal and Yuna joined him trough the Thunder Plains, he had realized she did want to him back at Djose.

Now here she was, right in front of him, in his arms. And she was about to say that he was going to be the father of a child that was both his and the woman he loved most. He smiled slightly before pulling back and stared into her beautiful ruby colored eyes.

She stared back at him, tears again forming. She closed her eyes a few times, trying to blink them away. 'I…I'm pregnant…Baralai I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner and I…I've known it for almost 3 weeks now and…and I'm…'

Baralai shook his head, placing a finger on her lips. 'It's okay.' He said kind of surprised that Paine would show her emotions like that. 'I don't care you didn't tell me sooner. I'm glad that you're still okay.' He cupped her face with both of his hands. 'Do you know how worried I was when I heard that you were gone. I walked right out of Bevelle and went straight for Djose.' He chuckled and said. 'I even forgot to bring a weapon.'

Paine smiled slightly, feeling an enormous load falling off her shoulders while he spoke.

'And I'm so happy to see you again, and you.' He said looking down and placing one of his hands on Paine's stomach while the other was still cupping her face.

Paine laughed trough her tears and sniffled. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

He smiled relieved and hugged her back.

_On the other side of the door about half an hour later_

'You think they made up?' Yuna asked while her ear was on the door listening for any sounds coming from the room behind it. So far she hadn't heard anything.

Rikku peeked over her cousin's shoulder to look at her face. 'I don't know…you think we should sneak a peek?'

Tidus, who was on the other side of Yuna, coughed. 'Well…what if they're…you know…in an awkward position…?'

Yuna gave her boyfriend a weird look. 'What do you mean?'

Rikku jumped towards Tidus and patted him on the shoulder. 'Yeah Tidie what do you mean, huh?' She grinned mischievously. The blonde Blitzplayer turned slightly read and cleared his throat.

'Well…you know?'

Rikku poked him in his chest. 'No we don't…' She said still with the same grin on her face.

'What Tidus means is, what if they're busy making out.' Gippal said who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. 'That's what you meant right?' He said looking at his friend.

Rikku turned around with her hands on her sides. 'We knew what he meant, I just wanted to hear him say it!' She said with a pout. 'Sjeesh Gippal, now you go and spoil it all!'

Gippal chuckled and pushed himself off the wall. 'Let's just open the door.' He said as his hand was already on the knob. Everyone was by his side in a matter of seconds when he opened it as silently as he could.

They looked around in the room, eyes falling on the bed where Paine had sat on all night.

Both Baralai and Paine were lying on it, Baralai's arms rapped around her waist whit one hand on her stomach. Paine's face was turned towards Baralai, the top of her head under his chin, one hand in a weak fist near her face while the other arm was draped over Baralai's side. The two of them appeared to be fast asleep.

'Ahhww.' Both Yuna and Rikku said looking at the two of them tenderly.

'Maybe we should leave them alone.' Tidus whispered and retreated back towards the hall they were all standing in a minute ago.

Yuna nodded with a smile on her face and turned around to follow her lover.

'Oh, they look so cute together, doncha think?' Rikku said to Gippal who was standing beside her.

Gippal frowned and stared down at the petit blonde. 'And we don't? He said in surprise.

Rikku giggled and hugged him tightly. 'Sure we do silly!'

He smiled and dragged her out of the room, closing the door behind them.

--

When Baralai woke up it was already dark outside. He groaned while he turned on his back and rubbed his face with both of his hands. 'What time it is.' He mumbled to himself, looking around in the room for any kind of clock.

'It's 6 O'Clock (Pm).' Paine mumbled, startling the young praetor. She looked up at him and frowned. 'What is it?'

Baralai chuckled slightly and kissed her on her forehead. 'Nothing, I just didn't think you were awake.'

Paine smiled and turned around on her back as well to stretch her arms, she yawned loudly. 'I have been for the last hour.' She said when the yawning stopped.

Baralai smiled warmly at her placing his hand back on her stomach. 'How are you feeling?' He asked concerned when he remembered what Gippal and Tidus had told him when they helped him slay the dragon fiend.

Paine sat up in bed and faced him. She pursed her lips slightly. 'Uhmm…' She though out loud. 'Fine.'

Baralai narrowed his eyes, sitting up as well. 'You sure?' He asked while grabbing her lightly by the shoulders. 'Because of what I heard from Gippal and Tidus you weren't fine last night.'

Paine shrugged and shook her head. 'That was last night. This is now. I'm fine Baralai.' She reassured him. 'The doctor's still here, he said he wanted to run a few more tests just to be sure, so don't worry about me, okay?'

He nodded and smiled at her. His hand moved towards her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. She leaned in and closed her eyes. _Fayth I missed him._

Baralai was about to kiss her when someone's stomach growled. His eyes were downcast and he laughed. 'I think someone is hungry.'

Paine blushed (_you read it correct) _and looked down at her stomach.

'Let's go get something to eat.' He said and stood up from the bed holding out a hand for Paine to help her off. She stood up on her own though and he laughed.

They went down the hall and up the stairs were the newly build restaurant was. When they walked into the large room where all the tables and chairs were neatly stationed in rows they noticed a group of 4 sitting at a large table drinking and laughing. They looked at each other and smiled.

'Good evening.' Baralai said when they walked up to the group.

'Hello.' Yuna said and smiled sweetly at them. Tidus stood up to grab a few more chairs.

'Hi.' Rikku replied and waved at them.

Gippal nodded and smirked at them. 'Slept well?'

They both nodded and took their seats when Tidus came back with two extra chairs.

'So…what have you all been talking about?' Baralai asked looking from one to another.

Tidus leaned forward, his elbows on the table. 'Me and Gippal were just telling them how we rescued you from that oversized dragon.' He said with triumph.

Baralai started to laugh. 'Yeah right! I had to rescue you two from getting whipped by that tail!'

Gippal raised his eyebrows at him. 'Excuse me? You were the one in trouble my friend.'

'Oh boy, here we go.' Rikku said and rolled her eyes.

Paine chuckled and looked from Baralai to Gippal to Tidus. 'You know…maybe you all should just tell the whole story.'

'Yeah!' Rikku exclaimed throwing her fist in the air.

Yuna clapped her hands together. 'Come on, tell us!'

They three boys looked at each other with smirks on their faces.

'Alright.' Gippal said. 'It all started when I thought I had heard something that sounded like metal ringing trough the cave.'

'What!' Tidus exclaimed. 'First of all, I heard it first and second, I recognized it as metal. You thought it was a fiend!'

'It was a fiend.'

'Yeah well…I heard it first!'

'Woa wait you guys!' Rikku said putting a hand on Gippals shoulder. 'What cave?'

Baralai cleared his throat. 'I'll tell her. I was looking for Paine and I came across this cave…'

* * *

_Paine and Baralai finally got reunited :). I'm not very good with fluff so bear with me please. The fighting chapter has been postponed and will be in the next chapter, told by the boys of course. I just wanted to have this chapter written. _

_Read and review please_


	19. Forever

**A/N: **_Sorry for the long wait, but here it is then, finally. The ending of this story is finally here! I might write an epilogue, I'm not sure about that though. I'm very busy lately with my 4 days intern and the full day of school and all._

_If I do write an epilogue it'll be updated in December, at least._

_Well...I hope you'll like this ending. There's a large humor part in this story when the guys try to explain what happened in that cave with the fiend and all._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

'Okay…so let me get this straight.' Rikku said with her index finger on her chin. 'The two of you went inside that cave, came up to those large staircase thingies, didn't come across any fiends at all and after you climbed the last two staircases, Gippal heard a noise and…'

'Whoa!' Tidus held up his hands and gave Rikku a look. ' 'I' heard a noise, I did! Not Gippal.'

Rikku waved it off with her hands and shook her head in amusement. 'Just checking if you were still with me Tidie.' She said and giggled.

Paine rolled her eyes. 'Just get along with what you wanted to say, I want to know what happened with that dragon.'

Rikku pouted at her friend. 'Well excuse me miss 'chocolate cereal with whipped cream and chocolate souse '. She said indicating at the three large empty bowls standing in front of the grey haired worrier and the spoon that was still in her hand.

Everyone laughed while Paine, even though no one saw it, turned slightly red.

'Anyway…' Rikku said giving Paine a look. 'Tidus heard a noise, you two started running came to this pillar or ridge jumping kind of thing and found Baralai fighting with that dragon, right?'

'Yeah, that's right.' Gippal said. He held out his finger. 'But you did leave out the fact that I saved Tidus guts when he almost fell off one of those ridges.'

'Excuse me! You were the one that fell back on his but!' Tidus snorted trying to defend his honor.

'Yeah yeah, try to cover it up all you can. I saved your guts. You owe me one.' Gippal said triumphantly with his arms crossed over his chest. A small smirk played across his lips and he stared from over the table to his blue eyed friend who glared back at him.

'What happened after that?' Yuna asked eager to hear the rest of the story.

'After we jumped over all those ridges we saw Baralai fighting this huge fiend.' Tidus said with wide eyes like he saw the fiend all over again.

Baralai chuckled. 'It wasn't that huge, you're overreacting.'

Gippal smirked at his grey haired friend. 'Come on Lai, don't be so modest.' The praetor smiled and stared down at the table.

'Anyway…' Tidus started again. 'We both grabbed our weapons and jumped into the scene.' He gave Gippal a meaningful look when he said that.

'And disturbed me so that the dragon almost turned me into a flame torch.' Baralai added. The two blonde men laughed nervously.

'Yeah well…' Gippal said as he scratched the back of his head. 'You had it coming to ya you know, you should always pay attention to the fight, not to other things that happen around you.'

Baralai glared at him. 'Oh come on! How can anyone keep his guard on when suddenly someone jumps cheerfully beside you screaming: 'Hey Lai, how's it going?!'

Gippal turned as red as a tomato, getting laughs from the rest of the group. 'You're really stupid sometimes Gippy.' Rikku said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

'But that's why you love me, right.' Gippal said with a grin.

'Yep.' She replied with a smile on her face. Yuna giggled at her cousin and turned back to Baralai. 'So you got flamed by the fiend?' She asked in a slightly concerned voice.

'Luckily no, I only got my hand burned though.' He said holding out his hand. It was bandaged but it didn't look all that bad. 'But I guess a burned hand is better then a burned body.'

'Yeah…' Tidus said, placing a warm hand on Yuna's. 'but it still sucks.' Gippal nodded in agreement.

'Yeah well…at least I got back here in one piece.' He said looking at Paine lovingly. Paine smiled back. 'I'm glad that you're okay.'

'Ahw, isn't that cute.' Yuna said with a warm smile while she leaned her head on Tidus shoulder.

Rikku grinned. 'Yeah, almost just as cute as when you two were still sleeping together an hour or so ago.

Paine's smile dropped and she looked at Rikku with a slightly shocked expression. Same went for Baralai who looked up startled. 'What…?'

Everyone else in the group gave Rikku glares of warning.

'Oh uhh ehe, nothing never mind. It's just me and my mouth, jabjabjab, ehehe.' She looked away nervously avoiding all the glares she'd been getting.

'About the fiend, how did you guys escape?' Yuna said quickly, trying to change the subject.

It kind of worked, since Baralai turned his attention towards Yuna and started talking again. 'Well in the end, I had to defeat it, because Gippal was knocked out cold and Tidus was blinded.'

Gippal shot up in his chair. 'I was NOT out cold!'

Baralai raised his eyebrows and gave his Al Bhed friend a sarcastic smirk. 'Oh really…then exactly were you doing lying on the ground like that, mhm?'

'I was…' Gippal was clearly thinking of a reason. 'I was looking for some eyedrops that I dropped on the floor that were meant for Tidus.'

The praetor chuckled. 'Yeah right, admit it, you were out!'

'No I wasn't!'

'Yes you were!'

'Tidus?'

'Yeah?'

'Was I or was I not knocked out when we were fighting the fiend?'

'Uh…'

'Well?'

'I don't know…'

'Argh, Tidus!'

'Hey! I was blind remember?!'

'Guys, it's getting late and I'm getting tired. I think I'll be heading for bed.' Yuna said with tired looking eyes.

'Yeah it's been a long day.' Tidus said as he stood up before Yuna did to help her.

Gippal got to his feet to and pulled Rikku up with him.

'Bu…but what about Painie and Lai.' She protested and grabbed hold of her chair when Gippal pulled her arm.

'Let the two lovebirds alone for a while, okay?' He said to her and gave a final yank on her arm that made her let go of the chair and follow him obediently.

'Can we order room service Gippy?' Rikku's chirpy voice was heard before the door of the restaurant closed.

Paine chuckled and shook her head.

'What?' Baralai asked her with an amused smile on his face, even though he didn't know why she was chuckling. He watched her carefully.

'Nothing.' She said simply and placed both her hands on her stomach. She liked doing so, it gave her a feeling of comfort. She was already showing, even though it was just a slight bulge and you had to look really carefully to notice it. But it was there, and she was proud of it. It was her bulge, and Baralai's of course.

'What would you say…if I said that we were having twins?' Paine asked innocently.

Baralai's brown eyes widened and he looked at her in pure shock. 'Wh…what?! Twi..ns? Twins?' He stuttered.

Paine bit her lip to try not to laugh, it didn't help much though. 'Just kidding.' She said amused and laughed. 'You should've seen the look on your face. Wh…what?! Twi..ns?' She said doing and impression of Baralai and laughed again.

Baralai started to laugh with her and regained some color to his face. 'I wouldn't have mind twins its just…didn't expect it, that's all.'

'Yeah yeah.' She said.

Baralai watched her silently with a smile on his face. 'Paine…' He said suddenly.

She looked at him still giggling slightly.

Baralai bit his lip and started to feel in his pockets. 'I wanted to ask you something for…a little while now.' He said still fiddling.

Paine stopped giggling and frowned. 'Well what is it?'

He finally found that something he was looking for because he stopped moving in his chair and was holding one hand in his pocket secretly.

'Baralai…' She said in a warning tone, she never really liked surprises and this thing that Baralai was doing looked a whole lot like a surprise.

Baralai was shaking all over the place as he nervously grabbed hold of one of Paine's hands.

'Paine would you uhm…' He said but hesitated.

'Spill it out.' Paine said annoyed. She was kind of nervous too, what was Baralai going to ask her?

'Paine would you become my wife…will you marry me?' He asked sincere as he pulled out a little dark blue box and held it out in front of her. He opened it and inside was this beautiful white golden ring with a gorgeous diamante in the middle.

Paine was speechless, she didn't know what to say or how to react.

_Does he mean this…does he really want to marry me? _

There was this huge feeling of happiness that overflowed her.

Baralai on the other hand was becoming more and more nervous.

_Why isn't she saying anything? What if she doesn't want to marry me? _

'Yes I…I will…I mean…I do.' It was Paines turn to stutter. Baralai looked her straight in the eyes when she spoke. She smiled brightly at him and threw herself in his arms.

Baralai felt so happy and relieved.

_She said yes, she said yes!_

'Try it on.' Baralai insisted, breaking the hug. He grabbed the ring from it's box and took Paine's hand in his. Paine felt the butterfly's flying trough her stomach as Baralai slipped the ring on her finger.

'It's beautiful.' She breathed.

Baralai smiled. 'Not as beautiful as you.'

Paine looked up at him and flushed.

'And you ofcourse.' He said placing one hand on her stomach before leaning in to kiss Paine softly on her lips.

**The end _(or is it?)_**

* * *

_Please review everyone!_


	20. Happily ever after

_**A/N:** Guess what? ... I'm going to make a sequel!!! Yay!!! But I've only just decided that so it'll take a while for me to update the first chapter. This chapter however is kind of the...first chapter/intro of the story I'm going to update. It'll be a 'Happily ever after' story, but there might be some twists, I don't know... I'm first going to finish the stories I have going right now...well...I'll probably update sooner...I think I'll just finish 'Thank you' and get started on the chapter for the sequel :D._

_So keep your eyes open for that! Plus...enjoy the first chapter/intro of the story I'm going to update with Paine and Baralai in the lead. Paine is a little bit OOC, but she's a mother now so she has to change a little. There's still a lot of the old Paine there, don't worry. But everyone changes when they have children right? Especially twins...whoops! Gave something away...well go and read the last chapter of this story and the first of the next._

* * *

'Mooooooom!' A whiny voice called from upstairs, followed by quick paced footsteps that ran down the staircase of a home in Bevelle.

'Moooom!!!!' The whiny voice belonged to a white blonde haired girl around the age of 6. She had a cute round face with huge light brown eyes. Her hair reached her shoulder and curled here and there. She was wearing a cute little red skirt with a yellowish blouse that matched her hair.

'Mommy!' She called again when she came into the living room. She looked around and when she didn't see anyone she pouted. 'Mommy where are you?' she said and started to walk around.

In the kitchen was a white haired woman who busied herself cooking dinner, which was one of the very few times she ever cooked herself.

'Mooom.' the girl said, not bothering to yell this time. She knew her mother wouldn't answer her anyway. She noticed her mother being in the kitchen and she climbed on one of the kitchen chairs, leaning her arms on the backseat while resting her head on them. 'Mom, Daeron is teasing me again.'

'Oh.' her mother replied, not bothering to turn around.

'Mom I don't want him to tease me.' the little girl said, again with the whiny voice.

Her mother sighed. 'You've been hanging around Rikku for too long last week.' she mumbled and finally turned around. 'Look, if you don't want him to tease you, then just tell him to stop.'

The little girl blinked and tilted her head to a side. 'That won't help. I've tried already.' she said, shrugging.

The white haired woman shook her head and walked around the kitchen block towards the staircase where the little girl had just run down from. She took a deep breath. 'Daeron! Stop teasing your sister!' she yelled and walked back towards the kitchen to continue the cooking, not even waiting for an answer.

Her daughter giggled and looked at her mother.

'What was he teasing you for anyway.' she asked after a moment of silence.

'Wehelll…' the little girl took a deep breath and the mother sighed.

'Oh boy, here we go.' she thought and suppressed a chuckle.

'You see he was playing on his computer and I walked in and asked if he wanted to play with me but he said no and I said that I had nothing to do and he said that I should find something to play with and I said that I wanted to do something with him because he's my brother and all and he said that he was busy then I wanted to play with his computer but he said that it was a game for boys and not for girls then I said that it doesn't matter with computer and that they're for everyone but he said that that isn't true and that I'm to girly to play his stupid video game and I said that I'm so not girly and he said that I am and that I'm whiny too and then he stuck out his tongue and then I…'

'Deirdre…' her mother hissed. The little girl stopped talking and looked at her mother who was holding her head in her hands, 'go watch sphere screen or something, okay?'

Deirdre looked at the ceiling, a thing she always did when she's thinking and nodded then. 'Okay!' she said cheerfully and hopped off the kitchen chair.

After a little while of silence the front door opened and a light grey haired man walked into the kitchen. 'Good evening Paine, how was your day?' he said and kissed her on the cheek, after hanging up his coat and dumping his briefcase on the kitchen table.

The woman named Paine smiled slightly. 'Just fine, the twins were having some trouble again. How are you Baralai?'

'Perfect.' he said with a bright smile,' I spoke to Gippal on the commsphere today.'

'O-oh…' Paine mumbled and rolled her eyes while turning towards her husband,' what did he want this time?'

Baralai laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. 'Well…'

Paine narrowed her eyes. She knew this nervous laugh of his, she knew what it meant and she was almost afraid to ask…but she did anyway. 'What…?'

Baralai bit his lip, the curves were forming up into a smile. 'They want to come over…tomorrow.'

Paine dropped the spoon she was holding and stared at him blankly. 'They were here last week…and the week before that…for two days…and I think…yeah…the week before that too.'

Baralai chuckled and walked around the kitchen block to rap his arms around his wife's waist. 'I know sweetheart, but there's more…'

Paine's head fell on Baralai's shoulder and she took a deep breath. 'Okay…I'm ready…'

'Okay…Yuna and Tidus are coming too.'

Paine bit her lip while her face was still buried on her husbands shoulder, she tried to suppress a chuckle but had a hard time doing so.

Baralai laughed and grabbed her by the shoulders to pull her up and look at her face. 'Come on honey, it's not that bad you know.'

Paine raised her eyebrows and looked at him sarcastically making Baralai laugh again. She smiled and turned back to her cooking. 'I know…' she said while she stirred in the chocobo soup she was making (A/N: sorry guys, had to come up with something else for chicken :P)

'I don't have a problem with them, it's just…they'll bring four screaming children with them, plus ours, that will make six screaming children in this house! Seriously…I'm starting to think we should make a room with soundproof walls so we can lock them up in there the whole day…It'll be a good solution for the twin too you know.' she said and looked at him with a hopeful look.

Baralai laughed loudly and took a seat on the same kitchen chair his daughter was on a few minutes ago. 'Well it sounds like a good idea, but how will they be able to drink and eat?'

That left Paine thinking for a few seconds. 'Well…we could make one of those little window thingies, and shove the food through there, you know, like in the prison cells?'

The praetor pressed his lips together to keep himself from laughing. 'You're picturing it already aren't you?'

Paine smiled and turned to him, folding her hands together while looking at the ceiling. 'Doesn't it sound heavenly? Think about it…a noise free house until they leave home to live on their own.'

Baralai smirked and stared at his wife in amusement. 'Yeah…they'll probably leave as soon as possible. Probably at the age of 16.' he said and chuckled.

Paine gave him a devilish grin. 'Yeah…wouldn't that be great.'

He laughed loudly again, wiping a tear away from his cheek. 'Oh come on honey, what will the neighbors think?'

Paine shrugged her shoulders. 'They won't know…the walls will be soundproof, remember?'

Again her husband laughed, getting the attention of their daughter who was in the living room watching television. She ran straight towards her father and climbed on his lap to give him a hug.

'Hiya daddy!' she said loudly into her fathers right ear, much to Baralai's joy. 'Whatcha laughing about?' She smiled at him cutely.

'Nothing sweetie, you're mother was just saying something funny, that's all.'

Deirdre frowned and looked from him to her mother then back at him again. That was something she couldn't picture, her mother was a very serious person and she knew that perfectly well. 'Don't be silly daddy, mommy isn't funny.' she said with that same cute smile of hers. This made Baralai laugh again. Deirdre giggled and hopped off of her fathers lap and walked back to the living room.

'Oh great, my only daughter thinks that I'm not funny.' Paine said with a pout as soon as Deirdre left the kitchen.

The grey haired man smirked and stood up from his chair. 'I think you've been hanging around Rikku for too long.' he said, noting the pout she was still giving him.

Paine turned around and gave him a look. 'Oh gee, you think?'

* * *

_O!!! This was the last chapter of this story! So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has reviewed or still is going too._

_Thank you!!!!!!!_

_I hope to see you all, well not actually see you...but you know what I mean, at my next story and uhm...hope you enjoyed 'Hidden Truth'._

_Bye!!_

_Love,_

_-Hommeles-_


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